The Alien Beauty and Human Beast
by KaliAnn
Summary: Lately, Ben's personality traits and and actions are less than desirable. In a way, he demeaning humans. His friends and members of Undertown think he needs to learn a valuable lesson. When a teen alien girl crosses paths with Ben, she ends up cursing him into a beast. In order to break the curse in time, Ben must find a beauty to change him or he'll be a beast forever.
1. Stories are Lessons

_Hello readers, I want to let you know this is my first Ben 10 story. I have watched all the series, but if I make a mistake, I'm only human. From the title you most likely figured out this is adaptation of a fairy tale. I will use elements from the original French, Disney, and Beastly, (book and film; highly recommend it). The only thing I ask is for constructive reviews. As always please support my original novel, "Battle for the Stars" by purchasing it or asking your local library to carry it. Thank you. Check out the Deviantart link in my profile to see a picture of my OC Eiar.  
_

* * *

"_Once upon a time," we've all heard that opening before. How about the saying, "A long time ago in a faraway land." Maybe, the most famous openings is "According to legend." No matter how you start a story, there is always an ending. But what else is there to a story?_

_Fairy tales, fables, myths and legends, why do we love the stories so much? Is it because of the magical, fun, and lessens hidden in their story. There has to be a reason we've kept them alive for so long. There are more than hundreds of different adaptations of the same story, finding the origin of one is hard; especially if it's possible the story isn't from Earth. _

_Across the known universe, all species have its own versions of fairy tales and legends. Whether the stories inspire fear, kindness, or anger, the point of it all; is that the child listening takes their meaning to heart. The lessons we learn from them shape us for the rest of our lives, but what if we forgot those stories. What happens when we ignore that part of us which heard the grain of truth in it? Sometimes stories need to be lived to help a person transform into all they could be and remember a vital lesson. After all, who doesn't want a fairy tale to have a happily ever after?_

* * *

It was typical day in the universe. Planets were settling their problems, the Plumbers were hard at work keeping the peace, and somewhere out there Ben 10 was rescuing someone while making a mess of someone else's life. None of that mattered to passengers, of the Intergalactic Civilian Transport Shuttle Service, aka a ship that bussed people to different planets for a fee. It even looked like a bus you might see in a big city, a long rectangular vehicle with two sets of doors and a white, blue, black paint job. It include a number registration in the back and a flashing sign above the windshield.

The inside was simplistic. There was a female Uxorite behind the wheel in a blue uniform. She used her tentacles to handle the controls, while her telekinesis took passengers tickets and separated passengers that got too riled up. The aisle behind her had many different types of seats, poles, or stations for passengers to rest. The windows gave a grand view as music played. There was also a small monitor for picking up news feed. Just a typical alien bus.

Two seats behind the driver, was a female girl looking over the schedule map, calculating how long until she reached her stop. The girl's name was Eiar, (pronounced eeeaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr,) who appeared to be seventeen years old. While her body looked human there were some major differences as well.

She was pale white with pink eyes with heavy eye shadow and had purple lipstick. Her long off to the side ponytail was mainly orange with purple high and lowlights. She wore a tight-fitting black body suit that she covered with a pink sweater vest and maroon colored pants. That just left her chest open to exposure. Her boots went up to her knees were pure black. She had on a long purple coat with yellow designs on it. Her accessories include yellow belt with upside down crescent moon shape, on her right hand a single purple cut out glove, and lastly an orange V-shape necklace. What set her apart from humans was the occasional magenta flashing eyes and sparkles from her fingers along with the orange and purple aura that surrounded her.

Putting away the map in her brown saddle bag, she pulled out a file and started reading it. Her seatmate was a male Chalybeas (Fasttrack), dressed up for a sporting event. He looked over her shoulder staring at her travel ticket. "My name is Chetcoln. So you're heading to Earth? Why would you want to do that? It's a boring spot with humans causing more ruckus than any invader. Without Max Tennyson and his grandson, that place would never been a blip on the intergalactic map."

Eiar ignored him, instead pulling out a few pictures comparing them a written report. Taking a map out of Undertown, she marked the spots in the report before clipping the picture in place. She finished reading a few more reports before shutting her folder, but one picture fell out. Chetcoln grabbed it and stared at it. "What gives? You a Ben Ten fan girl? Oh your one of his groupies who hopes to get his autograph and make him fall in love with you. My dear that's not going to happen. Why don't you come to Alpha Centauri with me? I'm competing in a three-day marathon! I'm sure to win," he laughed at her.

Eiar glared at him with annoyance. Clenching her fist she released a bit of manna dust on his feet. Before Chetcoln could stop laughing his feet had taken off dragging him all over the bus getting yelled out. The driver used her telekinesis to lift him up, not waiting for an excuse, she tossed him into the back locking him down.

"Pedestrian, I'm not _Ég er ekki fangirl, ég ætla að jörð til að kenna drengnum lexíu. _Ben Ten won't even see me coming. Ms. Xena? How much longer until we reach the stop at Undertown?"

"Another hour miss. Don't worry our buses are never late. I suggest keeping yourself occupied for a while. I'll ring the bell when were on the approaching vector," the driver reassured her. Smiling, Eiar settled back down reclining in her chair. She pulled out a large book from her bag. The title was written in a strange wispy language and the cover had an image of several species in fantastical outfits. Whatever it was, Eiar propped the book open, flipping to the story she wanted to read and lost herself in the book.

Time flew by quickly and before she knew it, the ship was ready to make entry into Earth's atmosphere. Buckling up tightly she prayed that entry would be smooth. The bus bulked and shook, the stars disappearing as they enter the blue sky. Seeing smoke covering the bus her aura went crazy lashing out, until Ms. Xena told her it was their cloud cover so humans wouldn't spot them. With a hard yank to the left the ship skimmed through a raise opening in a vacant lot. The smell of the sewer filled the ship causing many to gag. At last the ship docked at a waiting station. Turning everything off, the driver called out.

"Undertown Earth Station. Would all passengers with tickets here disembark? Remember go through customs and trade your money for human currency. Check in with the Plumber Base here to let them know your plans. Thank you for riding Intergalactic Civilian Shuttle Transport. Hope to see you again." Finally, she pushed open the door and Eiar disembarked with a few other passengers.

Looking at the whole of Undertown and knowing there was a thriving city above took her breath away. Sixteen hours on a bus and she was here at last. Once she made it through customs and found that youth hostel her mother recommend then she would be set for the next step.

Getting through customs was a challenge in itself. The office resembled something you find at an airport, only with more lines for different species. There was also a ton of scanners, guards and patrol animals. The agents on duty were serious about their job, not bothered at all by strip searching or taking people out of line for questions.

Finally it was her turn to be processed. The agent on duty, a Biosovortian, used his magnetism to check for hidden weapons or illegal tech on her. Afterwards he asked her to step into the full spectrum bio scanner to for health, safety, and deterring the criminal element. Her aura started flaring up as the scan began. "Ouch, hey, your scanner is hurting me!"

"I apologize, but this is standard procedure. Please attempt to control you aura so that the scan doesn't cause pain," the robotic response she received. Sighing, Eiar closed her eyes entering a meditative state. Taking deep breaths, she counted backwards from ten, until her aura was dim and small. The Biosovortian checked the results clearing her. Her bag had also passed the scan as he handed it back to her. "You may proceed, please go to the nearest window to verify your documentation."

Eiar nodded, going through the roped line until she reached the first open window. A female Lewadan hovered behind the window, checking something on her computer before turning her attention to the young alien girl. "May, I please see your passport, visa, and itinerary?" Nodding, the teen pulled out the proper file slipping it through the barrier. The Lewadan looked over the paperwork before entering the information in the computer. It pinged accepting these as official documents and not forgeries. She handed back the paperwork back to the girl. "Please keep your documents with you at all times. You may leave, the currency exchange is just down the hall to a right. After you've settled into your lodgings, please remember to contact the Plumbers HQ, to verify your paperwork is on hand and that you've registered with their list of visitors.

* * *

Eiar was glad when she finally got out of the station. Taking a deep breath she got her first taste of Earth's air. It was a little dank and recycled in Undertown, nothing like the clean sweet air she was used to, still it was exciting to be away from her planet for the first time. The giddiness was overwhelming. Stopping long enough to grab a map of Undertown, she hailed a rickshaw, paying the man to take her to the hostel.

The Younglings Youth Hostel, looked architecturally like something you might find in Europe, that is, if the building was colored gold while the floors rotated around the twenty story tower. Bridges connected the different floors to the main tower. The tower itself was imposing with an impressive garden of non-earth plants. Paying the driver, she walked towards the entrance, barely glancing at the youths playing on the different sport fields around the tower.

The lobby was very cozy with neutral tones. Pieces of art hung around the wall. Display screens called out the different amenities for the youths. A small staff was bustling about taking care of the hostel. She walked up to the desk tapping the bell. A female alien, of a species, that resembled what Earth originally thought aliens looked like, stretched her head behind her to see the new arrival before straightening and walking to the desk. "Welcome young one. My name Kad, if you need anything at all, please contact me at the friend desk. Walk in or reservation?"

"Reservation, it should be under the name Dagurdottir." Ignoring the surprised look on the lady's face she started counting out her Earth currency trying to understand how it worked. At last, Kad confirmed her reservation for one Earth year before giving her a keycard to room 824. "You'll be sharing with rotating visitors. Currently, you don't have a roommate, don't be surprised if that changes."

Eiar nodded, taking her key before taking the portal transfer to the eighth level. Rocking back a little she, steadied her balance. Her planet's gravity was one fourth of Earth, so she learning how to get use to feeling heavy. Crossing the bridge she enter the right hall heading to her room. The neutral designed carried throughout the hallway, with minimal decorations. Slipping in her card, she entered her room.

Instantly, the lights came on reveling four beds of different sizes and styles lined up against the corners. Each bed came with a small dresser and nightstand. There were two Xtranet linked computer stations on the right wall between the beds. On the left, was a TV with games with a nearby couch. She spotted in the back a small bathroom for visitors to share. It wasn't much, but it would be her home for the duration of her stay.

Placing her bag down on the bed on the right side, next to the door, she let out a big yawn. Her aura, which had regained its glow after leaving the station, was now dim again, showing how weary she was. She used her power to grab her nightgown as she entered the bathroom. With her imagination she created all sorts of items to help her get really clean and tend to her face. Finally she settled under to comforter, intending to rest for the next several hours. Tomorrow, she would start her investigation. Hopefully she get what she needed to help her find her target.

* * *

The next morning, her clock woke her up with an announcement. "Greetings young ones. Today has a wonderful forecast up top; healthy blue sky, with warm temperatures around 60, with light cloud coverage and simple breeze. If your body allows it, please feel free to take our tour of Bellwood for free. For all those who are hungry, there's a free breakfast with delicacies from around the known galaxy. Enjoy!" Kad's voice annunciated before Eiar shut the device off. She felt tired and very groggy. The trip and switching to human time had given her shuttle lag.

All the same, the sooner she got up, the sooner she could start her investigation. Before she even got close to Ben Tennyson, she wanted to complete her survey on him; specifically his negative traits. Freshening up, she grabbed her bag and headed for the free breakfast. Once there she delighted at the selection of fresh fruit mixed with greens from other planets, berry juice from Arachnar, and lastly her favorite cereal.

The food was delicious, she even went for seconds. Looking around she counted the species she knew by name and the others by sight. No surprise to see groups of Kincerlerans racing around together. She ducked her head as a duo of Aerophibians flew above her. In the corner she spotted a lone Methanosian, most likely due to his methane smell. "Maybe I'll talk to him later. Time to get going. I wonder if they have a personal transport for guests?"

Ten minutes later, she was zooming down the streets of Undertown on a rented solar bike. She enjoyed the speed and loved the onboard computer that not only kept track of her position, but warned of traffic conditions. Slowing down, she entered the bazaar section, looking for a particular stall. She finally found her quarry, a vendor of exotic food. Coming to a stop, she hopped off the bike and started asking questions.

It took a while for the vendor to finish her survey and elaborate on some answers. Thanking the vendor she continued down the list of people who had the most interaction with Ben in the main part of Undertown. She stopped average citizens who lived there asking if they tell her stories about interactions with Ben. Many of the stories overlapped, incidents taken from different povs. Reviewing her surveys she noticed that negative traits seem to be higher than the good traits. Before she came to a conclusion, there was someone she needed to interview.

Her bike's computer system gave her some trouble. Apparently the man she was looking for moved around a lot. Several buildings of his had been destroyed and the paperwork for new business, hadn't been filed yet. After asking for directions she finally found where she wanted to go; Packmar's Rare Book & Movies. Parking the bike, she hopped off. "Considering what I know, I hope he's in the mood to talk."

* * *

A bell rang as she entered the store. Taking a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent of ink on paper. Opening her eyes she looked lovingly at the shelves of books and the glitter of e-readers. Walking further in, she saw that the movie section was against the wall with electronic signs telling her what she could buy. She stopped at the Iceland Sagas, carefully taking the book off the shelf. Carefully, she flipped through the pages, reading a passage or two.

"Are you going to buy that or just hold it? Packmar is a busy man and has no time for browsers!" Packmar voice spoke up. Surprised, she looked down at the little alien smiling. He grunted before continuing to speak. "Are you a human? No, wrong coloring and they don't glow. You interested in that human book? Found it in a crate marked junk."

"This book is not junk, it's a valuable piece of history, worth a lot of money. I would love to buy it if you help me in exchange."

Packmar looked at her with suspicion. He could tell she was a literary buff with knowledge of rare books. Still, what could she want in exchange? "Packmar willing to make trade. You can have the book for free, if your trade is worth my time."

Flipping her colored hair over her shoulder, she pulled out a survey handing it to him. His eyes widen and he was just about to yell at her to leave when she spoke. "Mr. Packmar, I'm not here to get Ben Tennyson off of any charges, I'm here to find complaints so that I can bring justice to his victims."

Packmar gave a little cheer. A chance to turn the tables on Ben and get revenge? He would give her the whole bookstore for that if she could deliver on her promise! "What do you need me to do?"

"Please describe your encounters with Ben Tennyson. Describe his actions and your responses. Did he apologize or fix what he destroyed? Tell me more about his habits. I would also like to know about any incidents that you know of, that aren't in public records," she explained tapping the bottom part of the page. There were ten questions with bubbles to fill in. They were all about Ben's personality and quality traits. Packmar quickly filled in everything, needing a second sheet to finish his experiences. Then with great flourish he filled in the circles. "Here, I hope this enough for you to bring justice to Packmar's poor emporiums."

"Don't worry Mr. Packmar, I promise nothing with will happen to this place. If Ben Tennyson attempts to destroy this place, he'll be answering to me!" Eiar promised putting the survey away. She would finish the comparison back at hostel. Once she found the overlapping data, she would be able to figure out what kind of punishment Ben deserved. Thanking Packmar for the book, she turned to leave when the whole building started to shake. Loud noises were coming from outside. Running to the window she was shocked by what she saw coming.

Citizens were scrambling to get out-of-the-way of a dozen of high-speed alien mopeds tore through the streets. Riding on them were several known thugs. There was; Tummyhead, Sunder, SevenSeven and even Liam riding with Vulkanus. They were firing a multitude of weapons into the crowd as they tried to find a clear way through to the exit. Judging by the direction they came from and where they were heading, plus the saddlebags full of rare artifacts, they must have raided Undertown's Antiquities.

If they stole rare, priceless relics, there's no telling if they come for these ancient tomes and classic movies. I have to protect this store she thought quickly. Already Liam and Vulkanus were turning their ride around ready to smash the place apart for the items in stock.

"We're all going to die! Packmar will lose business again! Packmar will go bankrupt! No, fate worse than death!" the little alien cried as he ran around, trying to protect his precious treasures. He suddenly blinked his eyes as the aura around Eiar got brighter.

"I promised I keep your shop safe, and that's what I'm going to do!" Cupping her hands together, a glowing purple energy ball started to grow. Within seconds more colors appeared. Thrusting her hands open the colorful dust went in all directions. Using the string connections on her fingertips she directed the dust shaping it. Green became a solid castle, with pink turning into living plants to attack. The windows now had cannons inside them to fire protection. As she pulled her hands back the creations become solid and strong. "Let's see them wreck this store now."

Packmar looked in wonder of what his store had turned into. As Liam and Vulkanus got closer, both raised their laser weapons before shooting rapid fire lasers. The castle like structure didn't waver absorbing the energy and feeding it to the plants. The vine like poppies grew rapidly before spraying a large amount of pollen at the two cyclers. Liam squawked once before falling off the bike snoring loudly. A covering opened up as wind sucked him inside. He would be retrieved later. Vulkanus was trying to get inside smashing his fist against the structure. "Do you really think your puny force field will keep you safe Packmar? One way or another you're going to lose another business!"

Packmar yelled before hiding behind the teen. Eiar refused to lose to an undersized Detrovite. "You want in? Well, I'm stamping you rejected!" Snapping the first cannon string; she let out a beam of super sunlight blinding the man. Before he could recover she attacked with super freezing water that iced up. The last cannon released a ton of annoying parasites that started to bite him and make him itch. Furious, the thief ran away screaming in pain.

All the dust creations disappeared except for the castle structure. She told Packmar it would vanish in a few hours, right now she needed to after those thugs. Judging by the shouts, she knew Ben Tennyson was nearby. Grabbing her solar bike she zoomed down the road, carefully avoiding objects and people.

* * *

"Computer, scan for any Plumper frequencies. Are there any details of who is responding to the theft in the southern business sector?" the bike hummed for a few minutes as it got permission to hear the frequency. "Agents Rook Blanco and Ben Tennyson are in pursuit." Rolling her eyes she pushed the bike faster trying to find a side route to cut the criminals off before either they or Ben caused trouble.

She pull up next to the escape tunnel, just as the villains arrived. Pulling the bike into an alley, she hid it behind a dumpster before heading out to stop the crooks, but was forced back as a protoblast nearly took off her foot. It seemed that Ben and Rook had arrived.

"This is the end of the line. I mean if two bounty hunter are forced to team up with a low level thug, then how do expect to beat me?" Ben laughed with arrogance. Ignoring Rook order to wait for backup, he punched the Omnitrix turning into Chamalien. Not losing his grin he changed his color disappearing from sight.

That trick didn't last long as both Sunder and SevenSeven equipment located him. Chamalien attacked with his retractable tail stinger trying to pierce through SevenSeven' armor. The alien simply rolled over activating his jet boots gaining momentum before sending Chamalien straight through a tea house. Jumping up, she snagged the side of the building climbing effortlessly. Her body was lithe and light as she jumped rooftops landing on the tea shop roof and swinging down to land on the canopy to see inside.

The teahouse was a mess. There was massive damage to the tables, the walls were cracked and most of the tea sets had been destroyed. Her expression was horrified as Ben, (who had reverted to normal), didn't even apologize or offer to come back and fix the damage, making him disrespectful and inconsiderate. "None of this would have happened if he used his brain instead of rushing in for the thrill," she muttered.

Flipping off the canopy and landing in a split, she hurried inside to see what she could do to be helpful. The owner, an alien resembling a panda bear, thanked her as she helped the customers out of the wreckage. She tended to their wounds and soon everyone was helping out to fix the mess. Hearing the sounds of battle still going, Eiar was hesitant to leave, but the owner nodded for her to go.

She came out just as Cannonbolt came rolling backwards heading for a few citizens, trapped behind some benches for cover. Using her powers, she created a goldish powder, lifting him up and over the citizens before he barreled into the bad guys. Yelling over his shoulders, he called out, "Sorry about that, but you shouldn't really get in the way when I'm saving the day!"

"Of all the selfish things to say! Rook better finish up this fight now!" Eiar growled tp herself. By luck, Rook was able to use his prototool to snag everyone. At last, backup arrived as they took the criminals in custody. As she listened to the conversation between partners, she was furious at Ben. He didn't ask about the places he destroyed or the people who got hurt. No, he was too worried about his face getting wrecked, ruining his public image. "Such vanity! I've seen enough. My surveys were right about you. It's time that a little justice and humility befell you," she whispered.

* * *

Ben had finished his after mission lecture from Rook. He took off back Rook's truck, thinking that his partner still needed to lighten up a bit. Okay, sure he was right about the people of Anur Transly, not _really_ being monsters. The lecture he gave me about being more responsible and start thinking my actions through. What did Rook even mean about being considerate so I don't have girl problems again? Girl's love me! There's nothing wrong with, "ooffffffff! Ben hadn't watched he was going and walked right into a girl. "Sorry, you should watch where you're going."

"Excuse me? You're the one who walked right into me!" the girl said, pushing herself up and dusting the grime off her jacket. She ran a hand through her hair, "Eww, slime, it's going to take forever to get this out!" the girl grumbled as twisted and squeezed the gunk from her hair. The strands of goo hair were twisting around getting tangled in knots while tugging at her scalp.

Ben winced, witnessing at her tugging her hair tightly, glad he didn't get that stuff in his hair. "That looks painful, maybe you should see a beautifier about that. Better yet, stay out of Undertown, it's not exactly safe for humans, even if you're a punk." Once again running his mouth, he failed to notice she was attacking him until his right kneecap sent massive pain signals to his brain. Hopping on one foot he went, "owwwww owwwwwwww owwwww. Why did you do that? More importantly, what's in those boots that makes them so heavy?"

Eiar put her hands on her hips standing tall, her aura getting brighter. Her eyes flashed as the goo vanished from her hair. Stepping closer she reached out, yanking the poor teen onto a bench before standing in front of him, her right foot on the bench. "First off, you need to mind your manners. Second, I'm not a human, though you could consider us distant cousins. As for my attire, it's none of your business how I dress. Understand?" she asked, counting with her fingertips each point before shoving her index finger into his chest.

Ben nodded his head, he was getting really bad vibes from her. Cautiously, he moved around, searching for a way out. His hand hovered over the Omnitrix, only for her to cover it with her hand. "Don't think about. Why don't you just go ruin someone else's life? You're very good at that, at least according to my surveys on you." Eiar left him sitting on the bench, walking at a fast pace. She was heading to an empty square, where statues of the builders, stood. It was because of them, this town and Bellwood, survived a ten year old's tantrum, years ago. Straining her ears she could hear the sound of Ben's footfalls hurrying after her, trying to cover his tracks by hiding behind stuff. "Typical arrogance. He's falling right into my trap."

Getting into place, she positioned herself so she was leaning at an angle up against a statue. She pulled out the surveys and pretend to review them, her left hand at her side, the tips were sparkling lightly. She had dimmed her aura. After a few minutes she put the surveys away. "I know you're there, I can sense you. If you want to continue our conversation just come over already."

Flushing, Ben walked out with his head down and his hands in his pocket. He was ignoring a call from his partner, tapping the communication off. The girl just studied her nails waiting for Ben to speak. "I want to know who you are and why would you be taking surveys about me? Are you fan or work for someone?" he demand, looking at her. There was a slight crackling from his wrist, he heard the muffled sound of the Omnitrix trying to work, but suddenly it stopped. "Hmm what's wrong with this thing now?"

"I don't know, it could be that your slamming it so hard has damaged it. It wouldn't be the first time you broke something and didn't bother to go back to fix it or help people," Eiar mentioned, in annoyed tone of voice. She was clearly being sarcastic as she could be. "Oh, what about being respectful to others or using that brain power you demonstrated when you were 15."

Ben couldn't believe her attitude towards him. "Do you have a problem with me? Because it sounds as if you have something you want to grind me with." Again, his Omnitrix started to act up, but stopped. Looking closely this time, he saw green dust on the faceplate. "What is this stuff?"

"You'll find out later, first I do have something against you," Eiar said, taking out the surveys and handing them to Ben to read. Judging by his look of disbelief, he never heard someone saying this to his face. "You were taking a survey, about how much people _hate_ me?"

"No, you idiot, the survey was answering what bad traits you display most often and how people feel about the way you handle things. Most citizens agreed that you have a bad habit of not understanding your actions have consequences," she told him. Her aura was getting vibrant again. She could feel Rook approaching and the dust wearing off. "According to the list; you have five traits that are unbecoming of a human. There are several reports against you for damages, emotional pain, and misrepresenting yourself and the human race. It time someone did something about that."

"Oh really, I think I'm just fine the way I am. If people have a problem they should say it to my face. I'm a good listener," he remarked cocky. Noticing her eye brows raised, he gave her an acquisitive stare of his own. "What, you don't belief me? It's true!" As he said that the last of the dust fell off the Omnitrix as it went into scan mode. Ben was shocked when she create a solid purple wall to protect herself. "Scan complete. New alien unlocked."

"You're an Anodite? But I thought they didn't have DNA," Ben exclaimed as he looked at the new glyph. It didn't look like the face of an Anodite, but a human with a glowing light around the head. Glancing between the glyph and the girl, he wondered what kind of trap he just walked into.

* * *

"That's not entirely true, just a secret Azmuth never figure out. Oh, and I'm not an Anodite, but I'm distantly related to them. Before you ask, no I'm not a hybrid; at least not in the sense you're thinking," Eiar said. Looking behind Ben she saw Rook running towards her. Time to put her plan in action. Gathering her power she scatter her manna, this time in the form of solid wall of sapphire blue mixed with brown chips. The walls started rotating faster and faster, as she created a solid storm above with indigo dust making it impossible to escape.

"Whatever you're doing, I'm going to put an end to this right now!" Ben shouted. He raised his hand to slam on the Omnitrix when a frozen light blue dust frosted it, making it unable to work for a time. "Cooooooooooollllllllllllld! It's cold!" He whined. Hearing pounding, he turned to see Rook. "Get me out of this partner!"

"I am attempting to, but whatever she's created has no reaction to my prototool. I will attempt to break it down by force!" Rook backed up taking a flying kick, he bounced off the wall, not even leaving a crack. Driving back his fist he attempted to punch through nearly breaking his hand. His continued efforts of physical attacks were only causing him pain. That wall wasn't coming down. "I will call Magistrate Tennyson for backup. They should be here momentarily. Try to hold on!"

"That's easy for you say, you're not the one stuck in here!" Ben tried to rush her, but she jumped up on top of the statue, balancing on the head of one of them with ease.. Seeing him climbing she jumped off doing a front flip landing on her feet. She lunged, grabbing his foot and pulling him down before spinning him around sending him skidding across the courtyard. "Ugh, I'm being beaten by a girl. Gwen is never going to let me live this down."

"Why not? You're cousin seen you in action before, it's not like it's a big secret you don't work with what you have. How many times, has she told you, work on your physical body to improve yourself?" Eiar asked, strolling over to him with a purpose. Seeing his reaction her eyes flashed as she rolled them. Once again his lack of brain power was astonishing."You're a "universal hero". Anyone who can read knows about your cousin and weaknesses."

Angry, he tried to punch her, but she caught his fist bending his arm backwards pinning him against her chest. He tried to kick her only for to adjust her footing so he didn't connect. Twisting about she tossed him over her shoulder. He managed to do a rough handstand into a somersault. "Okay, I'll admit it, I need to work on my skills, but what is it, that you want from me?"

"As I stated before, I'm here on behalf of those you wronged. It's time you to face the consequences of your actions and grow up. The only way that's going to happen if what inside shows on the outside," she hissed. Her fingers were sparking with different colors of manna. With a flick of her fingers the colored dust lifted Ben up in a mini tornado. The teen tried to hold it together, ignoring the pain that came when the dusts covered his skin before burrowing inside him. He doubled over in pain. Feeling his insides twist about as his body changed. This was different than when he went alien. It was a smoother transition, but this, it was torture as he spun around in all directions. All Rook could do is watch helplessly behind the wall as his partner started to change. His ears perked up, as he focused on what Eiar was saying.

The alien girl's voice echoed as she delicately moved her fingers controlling her manna dust. Her eyes were glowing as her aura's light grew stronger. Her entire mind was focused on the task ahead. It was time to curse him.

"_Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, you've been charged with five bestial traits from inside you. Arrogance, selfishness, disrespect and inconsideration, lack of using your brain, and lastly vanity. I cast the curse of the beast on you. Thy ugliness inside shall now appear outside as what you value turns inward for a time. No escape from the monster you'll become, except for one. In one year of human time, you must find someone to love you, who can see and understand better than you can. With love's confession from both beast and beauty, a reborn human you shall be. If no love is found, the curse remains forever more. By my command become as unattractive outside as you were inside!" _

Ben screamed at the same time Eiar yelped as her manna abilities surged. There was a brilliant flash of light that was seen over all over Undertown. There was a tremor felt by all. There was some panic as the air became chock full of charged dust. An echo of a blasted sound boom bounced off the walls until it became silent again. At the square, the air was clearing up as the dust faded away. Rook rubbed his eyes, grabbing his weapon, he quickly moved towards Ben. When he reached his partner he seemed to be covered in some fur. He was about to turn him over to check for injuries, when coughing drew his attention. "Halt, you are being detained for assaulting a Plumber."

Eiar, leaned against the solar bike she had summoned. Though her hair was a mess, she still had the strength to stand. "If…you…check my… itinerary… you'll see I have all the proper paperwork filed. When he wakes up, have him examined to see, if my curse caused damage." She pulled out something from her bag, sending it spinning towards Rook, who snagged it. "Talk with Magistrate Tennyson. He'll explain everything. You'll find me waiting at Twisty Freeze on St. Vincent Avenue, when you're finished with my paperwork. See you later."

As she rode away, Rook moved to go after her, when he heard Ben groaning. It sounded very gruff, almost like a growl. "Ugh, what happen to me? I feel as if I went through a marathon of all my transformations. Cough, Cough, am I in a new form? Is that why I feel weird?" Before Rook could ask him to sit down to be check out, he stood up. Rook gasped as his scanner started to beep. He couldn't believe what it was saying. "Um Ben, I have something to say to you…"

He was interrupted when Ben caught a glimpse of himself in a nearby window. He yelped, caught by surprise of his reflection. He twisted around taking a tumble as he found a piece of the sapphire wall intact. Staring at he kept asking, "What kind of alien am I?"

Ben's appearance was very different then any alien he turned into. Instead of looking like something foreign and out of this world, he seemed to be mismatch of animals. He had grown to at least six and half feet. His entire back was covered in thick brown fur of a bear while his face looked like a lion's head. His entire torso was covered in thick yellowish black crocodile scales with ridges. His upper arms down to his elbows, were covered in brightly colored fish scales with a mini fin attach to either side. Below the elbow to his hands were dark green slimy skin and toad like hands. His legs were bird of prey like with sharp talons. Twisting around he saw attached to his butt was a small scorpion tail that shared the color pattern of a bee. "What the… I'm ah… who did she… tuuuurrrrn, me into?" He asked spinning around too fast and tumbling on top of Rook.

"Ben, this may come to a shock for you, but you're not an alien. All the DNA in your form is from Earth animals, which have attached to certain sequences in your own genetic code. In agagnorisis, you have become a human beast," Rook told him. Backup arrived just to see Ben let loose a howl of anguish. How could this happen to him?


	2. Wiccman's History

As soon as Ben stopped howling and trying to pull his new skin off, they managed to calm him enough to get him in a transport van to take him back to Plumbers HQ. As soon as they arrived they took him to see Driba and Blukic. They were idiots by Galvin standards, but hopefully they could find out what had happened to Ben. It would be a challenge for everyone due to circumstances.

Upon arriving Ben started to thrash about, letting loose growls. Members of the Alpha Squad tried to get close to calm him down, but kicked out with his talons delivering a deadly slash. The stumbled backwards looking in horror. Magistrate Patelliday jumped him from behind, trying to get him under control; this angered Ben, whose fish fins became sharp as they tried to impale him. The fishy Magistrate let out a wail of surprise before sliding off.

"Gosh darned, that was close. I wouldn't recommend trying to touch his fish parts! Those fins are sharp!" Everyone, except Max and Rook backed off, watching the Beast closely. The animal before them let out another strangled wail of pain as tossed and kicked containers around the docking bay. His scorpion tail wrapped around the leg of a chair sending it across the floor. The Beast banged its back against the wall before ripping the lights off the ceiling. Seeing a firehouse, Beast ripped the box off before pouring the water over his torso and arms, cooling down. He turned looking at the wall pausing as it stared at his reflection. Letting loose another grunting roar, he fell to his knees.

Rook and Max approached slowly, trying to look non-threatening. Both had holstered their weapons as they made their way towards the Beast. The other Plumbers had their weapons locked on the creature with heavy stun. Max waved his hand gesturing to them to put them down. He was finally close enough to touch the shoulder of the Beast. "Ben, can you hear me? It's me; Grandpa Max." He reached out slowly and touched his shoulder gently.

The Beast growled turning around to slap the hand away, but stopped. The golden eyes of the Beast, widened, as if understanding where and who he was. The eyes changed from gold to green causing the rest of his body to relax. "Grapa Mx? I'm sory, I don't knoooooow, what happened. It's like there are twwwwwwwwwwo minds inside meee now. Why can't I tallllllkkkkk right?"

"Most likely you need time to adjust to your transformation. It could be that your human vocal chords are not a match for your body," Rook informed him, helping Ben to his feet. Doing his best to give him a reassuring pat, he led him to the med bay. "I believe it was the shock of discovering that this form, is actually your own, allowed the basic instincts of the animals, to come to the surface directing your actions. It would be best for all of us if you got control of those instincts quickly." Ben dipped his head as he listened to Rook's lector for once.

* * *

In the med bay, Driba was trying to adjust the table to accommodate Ben's new form, only to grunt in frustration. "The table appears stuck. Blukic get me a wrench!"

"I don't think we need a wrench, but a screwdriver. It's the screws on the table that are causing the problem, not the bolts."

"Do you have to argue with me on everything? It's the bolts, they're in charge of the folding. The screws are for adjusting the lengths. We need him to be reclining, not dangling."

"He's taller! We should give him more lengths!" The two little Galvins were at each others throats ready to get into a fight when Rook coughed drawing their attention. He silently pointed over his shoulder. In impatience, Ben had done his own modification to the table, adjusting for his new height, weight, and tail. Grumbling angrily, he adjusted his body. "Can we get this checkup over with already? I have to go home tonight!"

Embarrassed, they got down to work. While the two Galvins did a full work up on Ben, who was trying his best not to kill them, Max went over to Rook. "So what happened between the time I arrived to help pick up the thugs and when you found Ben?" the old man asked. He had a serious expression on his face as he tugged a bit on his Hawaiian shirt.

Rook stood at attention as he carefully related the events that occurred. "We had just finished with the arrest. I had given Ben a lector on his recent reckless actions. In an attempt to get him to understand how his actions hurt, rather than, helped his reputation, but chose to ignore it," he explained as Max let out a sigh knowing it was true. Sometimes his grandson was too hard head to get a clue. Once he returned his attention to Rook, the alien continued with his story.

He admitted he had not seen Ben when he arrived at his ship, nor had he responded to a communication call. Using a scanner, he had locked on to Ben's signal, following it to the source. Bringing up a video of the events; he showed what had happened between Ben and unknown subject. Listening to the enhanced sound had Max worried. He had never come across such a species. He was about to ask for the folder when he heard the exam table being ripped out from the floor.

"No more testing from the Wonder Twins! Just tell me what that girl did to me now!" Ben yelled. He was holding the two idiots by their throat before dropping them to the ground. "I can't take this anymore! I've got to change now!" Awkwardly he tapped the Omnitrix, but there was a buzz as it flashed a red warning. "Out of service? How can it be out of service?!"

"That's enough Ben, if you don't calm down, I will stun you." Max calmly told him, raising a blaster to his grandson. Ben's eyes started to turn gold again before returning to green. Taking a few deep breaths he tried to sit down comfortably on a nearby chair. It wasn't big enough for him so the roller chair broke. Rook suggested he sit on the waiting benches along the wall. It worked great. At last they could hear the results.

Blukic, brought up his scans first. "According to these scans, Ben's internal structure has been altered. See here," he said pointing lazily to the bone structures. "The skeleton is a mix of different animal bones, though the key joints are human. Some of the organs haven't been touched either, though there a few new ones to compensate for the hullabaloo inside."

Driba rolled his eyes. Of course the body would have changed to handle the new form, that's what always happened when Ben changed. Then again he'd never seen a human genetic code like this before. "If you will take a look on my screen, I have something interesting to show you." A push of the button and a three d model of Ben's regular DNA and new DNA rotated side by side. Everyone, but Ben, could understand what happened. They all shared a worried look

"Would someone please explain what's wrong? Ouch ah, I think I'm getting fleas!" Rook, pulled out a special powder from his protosuit, dashing it all over his partner's back. "This all-purpose alien itching reduce powder should help. It works wonders on my skin." Seeing the smug look on Rook's face was almost too much to bear. "Ha ha Rook, you're a comedian. Will someone tell me what Eiar did to me?"

"That's the girl's name?" Max asked getting a nod. The name sounded human, but sometimes aliens borrowed names from other languages to use for themselves. Pointing to the models, he explain that Eiar, had somehow "cursed" him. Her manna manipulation, combined by her words, had somehow replaced key genetic coding with that of animals. It was very precise, becoming perfectly linked with his human code, in such a way there wasn't a gene therapy technique, in the whole universe, to undo what she did. On top of that it seemed these genes were protected by her manna, keeping them locked in place for a time.

Max was about to read the girl's file when he noticed something on Ben's arm. "Ben, turn your left hand over. I thought I saw something." Sure enough on left forearm there was small patch of human skin with an intricate tattoo on it. It appeared to be of a beautiful rose standing tall, with a script of writing above it. It appeared to be written with a mix of human and alien. He would take a closer look. Right now he wanted to read Eiar's file and why she believed she couldn't be prosecuted for attacking a Plumber.

* * *

To their surprise and delight, when the return to the center of the base Patelliday had already brought up her record. "So nice to join us. I found our mystery girl registered in the civilian visa section. She arrived on a shuttle bus yesterday."

"There are civilian transports that make stops on Earth? Aliens have visas?" Ben asked. Rook explained how it was project that came into being about three years ago to cut down on the illegal entries on Earth. Travelers had to have a passport, a visa for what country they stayed in and protection from human authorities, and an itinerary explaining their reason for visiting. There was much paperwork to fill out and register upon arriving on Earth.

"According to the matching records; her name is Eiar Dagurdottie. A seventeen year old Wiccman on Earth for cultural reasons. There's a lot more to her paperwork, but I'm having trouble understanding what it all means," Max admitted. The words she used were unfamiliar and the official stamps, verified them as legal, but for what he wasn't sure. "I wish I understood what was going on."

"I think you'll need my help Max, Wiccmans are a very special species, that can cause a lot of trouble, if you're not up to speed on them," a fun-loving female voice said. All the Plumbers turned in surprise. Settling on the ground, the female Anodite took human form. She smiled lovingly at Max and Ben. "Hello Max, hello Ben. It's been a while hasn't it? I hope I can help," Verdona said quietly, as everyone remained in shock.

"Verdona? Why…how… What are you doing here?" Max asked, he was a bit faint of heart to see his former wife here. He still loved her with a passion, even when she moved on with her life back on Anodyne. Still, if she could help out in this situation, he take it.

"When I felt a surge of manna dust on Earth surrounding my favorite grandson, I knew something was the matter. I hurried as fast as I could, but I was too late. The young Wiccman girl had carried out the first step in her,_ Dveljast niður tvær __le_i_ðir__,_ literally translated it means, a sojourn down two paths. It's their species rite of passage," she told Max, glancing away a bit. She also had strong feelings for him, but now wasn't the time to focus on that. She had to help her grandson, Gwen maybe her favorite, but she loved Ben as a close second. Next to her, Max's eyes widen and slapped his forward. He recalled something he learned in Plumber Academy years ago and now it was biting him in the butt. Karma was fun wasn't it?

"It appears that you're knowledgeable on this race and their ways. Could you please help us understand what her paperwork means?" Rook asked as he rubbed his hands together. Behind him Patelliday was bringing up other files on similar situations and data on the girl's species, but it would take some time to completely compile. "How is it that there is a race that shares a biological history with two races that are light years apart, and with one lacking conventional DNA?"

* * *

Verdona's face frowned as she created some chairs for everyone to sit on and a monitor to show what she knew in her head. Connecting with her telepathy, she started to explain the history of the Wiccman species and their complicated ancestry. On the screen they watched as hazy images formed, as if they were memories, but not her's. It showed a picture of Anodyne zooming in on the planet until it focused on a city. It appeared to be made of solid energy and several thousand beings stood in the center arguing. "These memories belong to my great-grandmother, I wasn't even born yet and my grandma was only twenty at the time, not a master yet of her powers."

Ben's eyes locked on the screen as he watched two Anodite, one dark purple, the other a light shade of pink, go at it, they engaged in a hair battle as they used different versions of manna to attack. The fight intensified until the entire thing was broken up by a giant female Anodite. Everyone looked at her in fear. The two groups started talking their problem out with her as she listened to them. After a time she seemed to agree with the larger group before delivering an ultimatum to the smaller group.

"Seven millenniums ago, there was a rift created among my kind. A small group, wanted to abandon the traditional ways of the Anodite. This group argued that our carefree, self-centered nature was the reason behind out lack of growth. This group believed that the only way we could truly become one with the rest of the galaxy is if we gained some form of solidness. They were for ethics, morals, universal cooperation. There biggest goal was to gain some kind of DNA, so that we could really connect to other species," Verdona explained the reason behind the argument. She didn't agree with the group, known as the Thousand Exodus, who were banished from the planet for attempting to overthrow the way of life on the planet."

"You booted out your own people, who had a different opinion? That's harsh Grandma." Ben was having a difficult time watching the monitor. His eyes were having a hard time adjusting their vision and kept switching from color to black and white. It was like they couldn't make up their mind. Trying to pay attention he watched as the Exodus traveled throughout their solar system looking for a new home. Out of nowhere they found life on the third planet of their eleven planet solar system. The planet appeared Earthlike, but with less ocean and the electromagnetic field was much stronger giving off strange manna waves. It also had two moons orbiting it. But the real shocker was; that there were different groups of humans living all over the planet!

"Humans in the Anodyne system? That's is impossible. It's an OOPART!" Driba exclaimed surprising everyone. No one had been aware of the techs had been watching the show.. For once Blukic agreed with his friend, saying it was not right to find out of place humans in an alien system seven millennium years ago. The question is how they got there.

"You can thank the Preservers for that. After the initial fearful encounter, the Exodus managed to use their telepathy to communicate with the humans," Verdona said. The others eyes widen in disbelief except for Ben. As usual he was confused, making his frustration grow. The Beast started to take over as he got ready to strike out. Sensing her grandson's emotions, Verdona sent a wave of calming manna into him. Once he was calm she privately showed him what he was missing.

* * *

It turned out that the Preservers were a species of aliens who meddled in the affairs of other species, by using their ships to slip through time and taking outcast groups, then transplanting them on other worlds to see if they flourished or destroyed themselves. Their appearance was that of a tall humanoid in a long cloak of varying shades of white, with only their whitish blue five fingered skin and their big glowing gold eyes shining. Occasionally you could make out their mowhawk hair and swirls of energy on their body if their close slipped, but that was it. They had the ability to make themselves invisible or project to show a different appearance. No one was certain how, but they died out almost 6,500 years ago.

Once caught up Ben was able to settle down as his grandma continued her tale. The images got stronger, as if their memories were hers. It turned out these were history videos she had watched when she was younger. In them the audience was able to observe different ethnic groups; ranging from Japanese samurai and ninjas, to scattered groups of Europeans from Medieval and Renaissance period, to natives from Africa, North and South America. They had been stuck on this new planet, (which they hadn't even agreed on a name for!), fighting one another for a hundred and fifty planet years. Apparently the planet took thirteen months to do a rotation, again leaving them without a name for the thirteenth month.

The Exodus tried to help broker peace at the same time learning about humans. There were small success, but war continued to threaten one another. Soon the Exodus split apart favoring their humans as the years passed. In ten years the planet was on the brink of destruction when a female Anodite named Pax, with her loyal human husband Caron stood up to all the factions by joining as one entity. There love was so strong that when they shared it, it was picked up on by the strange crystal formations all over the planet.

Unbeknownst to anyone the core of the planet was fusion of solid and manna made. When the energy was transferred through the layers of the planet it would come out through the crystals creating the unique electromagnetic field. The field had effect the Anodites physiology after being there for so long. Their own personal manna signature bonded with the planets energy causing them to grow special bioelectrical cells. Their energy trapped in these cells managed to create a basic DNA code for them. One of their goals was fulfilled, because two individual chose a path towards a new beginning, instead of the one to destruction.

"Over the millenniums humans and Anodites continued to procreate with one another until, over the course of evolution, they became a unique species all their own, shaped by their biology and environment. They became a budding member of the universe with both heritages tied together. Their language is a mix of the different human languages combined with Anodite to form a unique language and writing. They took their name from the old English word for healer because the Anodites helped heal the human rift. The planet is named Wiccma, while the moons are named after the historical peace couple. The thirteenth month of the year is named Anodanna; after both Anodites and their manna.

They have the best of both species. From their human side, solidness, morals and ethics, a great imagination, but most importantly of all freedom to grow and change. Their Anodite ancestry allows them to manipulate manna, although they create it in dust form before solidifying it, an aura of protection, and a link with their families. There most powerful ability is their curses, when they first tap into their full ancestry power."

"Why did that girl curse me? Is there a way we can undo it? Do all these papers prove she had a legal right to do this to me?" Ben asked rapid fire, not realizing he was swinging his tail all around knocking things over. Verdona didn't know, but suggested talking to the girl. Max downloaded a copy of her files and other relative data into a mini data pod and with Rook's help, the group decided to meet Eiar, to finally put an end to this mess one way or another.

* * *

Ben was hesitant to leave the safety of the Plumbers HQ. He could feel the different animals' minds taking over again. The lion in him wanted to sleep while the crocodile just wanted to sunbathe. His fishing scales were drying out and starting to smell. He stood in the hanger bay, frozen in place as Rook was getting his truck ready to accommodate more people than usual.

"What's wrong Ben, I thought you be ready to go hero on Eiar for what she did to you?" Rook commented. His nose started to crinkle as the body odors entered his nose. "Ugh, Ben that is the worse smell I've encountered. Is there nothing you can do about the body odor?"

Ben tried to hit his friend with his frog like hands, managing to spread the mucus on him, laughing at his partner. "Now you smell as bad as me. Don't you think I would do something about this if I could?" Looking down at his body he shuddered again. "I can't even get clothes on at this point, how am I supposed to control my bo?"

"The Omnitrix isn't working?" Max asked, noticing for the first time that the device was offline. He wasn't sure if any ID masks would fit Ben's face, but that wouldn't stop the smell or prevent Ben's instincts from taking over. He was at a loss of how to help. That's when Verdona took over, she created a manna membrane to cover her grandson, blocking the odor. With a flick of her wrist a temporary glamor appeared. "I can't undo the girl's curse, but I can temporarily block others perceptions so they don't go running in fright at Ben's appearance." Max thanked her as they finally left the building.

Eiar was sitting on a table kicking her legs as she enjoyed her chocolate milkshake. She couldn't figure how anyone, especially Ben, be obsessed with smoothies. Ugh, she hated their taste and their fruity smell always overwhelmed her nose. Give her a delicious mix of ice cream and milk any day. Chocolate was her favorite because it reminded her of home. She was just finishing her shake when she saw a familiar truck pull up.

"It's about time you got here, I was starting to wonder if I should buy another milkshake. I hope that the medical exam went well. I didn't want to severally harm B…" She stopped talking, when she laid eyes on the woman standing next to Magistrate Tennyson. She went stiff, as her aura reverberated with the old lady, whose manna started to leak out. Without warning she crossed the courtyard bowing before Verdona. "Sentora Verdona, it's an honor to meet you. My grandmother Asa and mother Rut, have sang praises of your great deeds. I am most humbled in your presences." Seeing the confusion, she explained Sentora was a term of respect for a greatly known/respected Anodite.

Turning she stood up giving a proper Icelandic greeting, speaking with elegance and an open hand. "Magister Tennyson, I am very pleased to meet you. Your biography doesn't do you justice. I'm hoping that you're not too upset with me choosing your grandson to be my, _Valið sveinspróf_, on my _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir._" Not giving him a chance to respond she addressed Rook asking him if he was okay.

That's when Ben acted out, he whipped out his tail trying to sting her. A rush of brown dust in the form of a shield appeared. Eiar spun on her legs continuing to block her foe's attack. She was at a disadvantage. She couldn't create weapons very well, her specialty was protection items. She tripped on a crack falling hard, making sure to brace for impact, only for a roll of manna catching her and leash forming around Ben's neck. Catching her breath, she thanked Sentora Verdona. "I didn't realize that the Beasts instincts would start taking over so quickly. According to what I've read, the dark part of this particular curse, isn't supposed to take effect so quickly."

"Enough! How is it that an alien that's descended from two races, is able to speak and act like a normal teen from another country? I thought you be mixed up more," Ben grunted before coughing up a hairball. This was turning into a really bad day. He moved to get a drink from the fountain, there was a little kid there getting some water. He looked up at Ben before hurrying away. He was so frustrated knowing the glamor was wearing off. "Well aren't you going to answer any of my questions?"

Eiar's eyes rolled as she scoffed at him. Adjusting her jacket before testing her glove flexibility she responded. "If you would stop being so rude, maybe I'll answer your questions! For your information, Wiccma is divided into thirteen equal sized providence all over the world. The Planetary Council has Representatives from each provinces and we vote in our President from the members of the council, who is elected by the people for eight years. Each providence is mostly made up of the group the Preservers snatched. My Providence, Scandyti, is made up of mostly people from Iceland, Scandinavia, even Denmark. I speak both Anodmunasse and Icelandic perfectly. If I didn't I wouldn't be allowed to apply for my right of passage." The way she said it, made her sound like everyone should already know this, and to her knowledge it was.

She frowned, studying everyone's expression. Ben, in particular, was acting as if he didn't understand now what had happened. Pulling out her paperwork she looked all over. "Didn't you get my request for permission to perform my Rite of Passage on your planet? I even made copies sending giving one to my grandmother and my mother, she's our Ambassador for the IGPN and my father is Head of Security for the Council. They taught me the importance of precise wording and filling out paperwork."

There was a chirp from Max's pod as Patelliday's report came in. Max did a cross-examination of the galactic and Plumber laws with the Eiar's paperwork. "It does appear you filed the appropriate paperwork and meet requirements for carrying out your Rite of Passage."

Max showed the data to everyone. Eiar was between the ages of 17-21, the legal age to take upon her Rite of Passage. She had done her research, presented her case to the Council; who approved of her choice of victim/journey person. Upon arriving, she presented her official documents. Then confirmed her paperwork and itinerary with Plumbers Base. There was even a sign off on it from Patelliday allowing her to proceed without prosecution. Finally, she had done her surveys and interviewed people with connection to her target. She legally could do what she did to Ben without being punished.

Ben couldn't believe this. How could a bit of paperwork and some random law give her the right to do this to him? He wanted her to undo this now! "There's got to be a way for you to undo this? Turn me back to normal now!" He said grabbing her by the shoulders. She pulled out of his grip angrily. "I can't undo what's been done. The only way to undo this is if you appeal to the Planetary Council. If they find a legal reason to undo my curse, then they'll assist me in undoing it. If not, then you have to live with what I've done."

"Fine, I want to appeal right now. There must be some bylaw I can use to undo this. Right Grandpa Max, Rook?" Both of them gave him a hesitant look. Even Verdona was feeling a bit hopeless. This could end very good or badly depending on what happened next.

* * *

Since her room at the hostel didn't have enough space for all them to use the Extranet, they had to return to Plumbers HQ. It was fitting though, this was a diplomatic situation. Max and Rook really hoped that Ben wouldn't draw attention to himself. His lack of diplomatic tact could ruin his only chance of getting out of this mess.

Patelliday didn't look up as the group came in. "I thought you would return. I'm already on hold with the Planetary Council. Seems I interrupted an important meeting, but they'll get back to me as soon as they finished their business." The symbol of the Wiccmans, an Anodite and human holding hands, flashed across the screen as they waited for the busy signal to end. With nothing else to do the group sat down to wait.

Ben was twitching about, getting up to pace or run around trying to burn off some energy, the membrane around him was starting fade, causing some of his body parts to smell again. Eiar, who had been reading her book once more, crinkled her nose. The smell was making her extremely sick. Putting her book down, her hands started glowing light blue, swishing her hands the dust touched the fish, amphibian, and reptile parts. Ben jumped in the air squealing in fear. He clumsily feel the floor. He tried to speak, but she interrupted him. "Relax, all I did was ensure that the parts of you that need water are kept fully hydrated at all times. So you're not going to smell like a rotting carcass."

Before Ben could come up with a quip, the signal stopped. Patelliday announced the call was going through. Within seconds the Planetary Council appeared. All of they had some distinct ethnic traits, but the colored eyes, hairs and aura were very similar. Even the cloths, while different cultural styles, appeared cohesive with what Eiar was wearing. The room itself to be very old style. Thick wood walls, with small scone lights on the wall. The carpet looked like a cross between grass and Persian rugs. The u-shaped table was made out of crystal filled with flashing manna. There were a few bay windows in the back. Sitting at the front of the table was an older woman. Her skin was a bit darker and her outfit more of a suit dress. Her features though looked very similar to Eiar. Her eyes were more violet, but the hair appeared the same color. It was short coming just below the neck with a streak of gray. Her figure and aura also matched. Upon spying her granddaughter President Asa gave a quick grin before returning to her official manner. "Greetings Earth Based Plumbers. Magistrate Patelliday informed us that Magistrate Tennyson wanted to discuss a matter of importance with us."

Her eyes focused on Max waiting to hear from him. Spotting Verdona, she forgot her decorum for a moment. "Verdona, it's good to see you again old friend. I should have known you show up at some point in this. After all, Gwendolyn and Benjamin are your favorite grandchildren."

Verdona blushed and waved her hand dismissively. "Oh you know me President Asa. Always had to stick my nose in the family business. Besides, I couldn't leave Max alone with this one now could I?" she responded coyly. Seeing her old friend, she was a little more hopeful. Maybe they could help Ben out.

President Asa got back down to business. She asked for her granddaughter to approach. "Eiar Dagurdottie, is there a problem with your _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir?_ I hope you didn't proceed without completing all the steps before hand."

"I promise I did, it's seem that there might have been a lack of communication on both are parts. Magistrate Tennyson, wishes to appeal on behalf of his grandson. I agreed to this, to ensure no laws were broken and I may continue on my journey," Eiar explained, once again speaking with elegance and grace. Asa was her grandmother, but here she was a president who couldn't play favorites.

Acknowledging her granddaughter's word, she advised the rest of the Council to listen closely to help with this snafu. Getting her data pad, she brought up all the registration and charters. The others were also keeping an eye on the bylaws. Once they were ready she asked Magistrate Tennyson, Sentora Verdona, and Rook to present their case.

"Planetary Council, I understand that you have legal permission from the IPUN, as well as signed permission treaties with all planets, including Earth, to allow your people to carry out their Rite of Passage," Max begun, to be interrupted by one of the Representatives. "As members of the IPUN, we have followed the charter by registering our Rite of Passage. Our Rite of Passage, does not involve blood-letting, nor murdering anyone. Also, the effects don't cause permanent damage and are reversible."

"Also the meaning behind the ritual teaches a valuable lesson to one taking it and the people ending up being involved. Our ritual teaches that one's actions have consequences. That in life one must face the parts of themselves they don't like and grow from them."

"Not cause permanent harm! I'm a wild animal!" Ben yelled only to be pushed back down by Rook. His partner hissed in his ears. "Don't jeopardize this chance by yelling at the people who could help! Stay calm." They had struck out on the first attempt, the _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir _was both legally approved and by being reversible, didn't cause permanent harm. In fact, having a meaning behind it, only enforced the reasons it could involve other species.

Max was giving it another try. "Your own laws do state that there are exceptions to who your people can curse during the _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir. _Your exceptions include private citizens, certain types of celebrities, and according to this Plumbers. One of them must apply to Ben."

The council looked over the laws, then spoke in hush tones. It appeared they were arguing about something. President Asa told the council to sit down. "We'll address each exception. According to Representative Isi, your grandson is not a private citizen of planet Earth. According to the local government, they gave Ben permission to leave school at any time. Bellwood has used him as a mascot and symbol of their town. Therefore he doesn't meet requirements for private citizens."

Rook interjected at this point. "Then according to your own rules, he is a celebrity. He is known as the teen that saved the universe and certain planets many times." Surely that would help. He looked at the Council daring them to disagree. That's when one of them tapped their device as scrolling blog and several articles. Upon seeing a few video clips he got a bad feeling.

This time it was a male, who had a West African accent, spoke up. "I'm Representative Kwame of the PAH (aka People of African Heritage) Providence. Your own media glorifies him, his own history in the spotlight, is nothing except show boating. He even inspired a TV series that made mockery of his good deeds." He talked over Ben who was protesting that it wasn't his fault. "In short, his fame is not due to being a celebrity of great deeds or achievement, rather a selfish fame monger. Your own comments on these blogs confirm it."

"You guys write negative comments on my blogs? Who side are you on," Ben bellowed. He started scratching his legs trying to get rid of an itch, but it wouldn't go away. "Okay, but I'm a Plumber, so that means Eiar has to undo this!"

"Technically, your own records don't register you as a Plumber," President Asa told him in a soft, but gentle tone. Seeing their confused expression she elaborated. "Upon completion of Plumber Academy, when members are assigned rank and placing, Ben insisted his rank be not agent, but superhero. Because it was on an official document and there are recordings of him saying that," she paused for a moment before holding her up and shrugged, "We have no choice, but to see him a freelance retainer."

* * *

Eiar gave Ben a smirk before pivoting on her feet. "Therefore, there is no legal reason I can't curse Ben. You can't undo my curse. You're going to have to break it yourself."

Ben threw his froggy hands up in the air and stamped his feet, his talons digging into the plating. "How do you expect me to do that? Shave my fur off until I discover human skin?" he demand agitatedly. Looking down at his arm he noticed the rose tattoo seemed to brighten up. Looking close her noticed that the petals seemed to be tearing slightly. "What is up with this thing? Maybe I should…"

"I wouldn't advice touching that tattoo. Not until we know what it's for. Ms. Eiar, can you please explain your curse once more? I don't believe Ben was paying close attention to you earlier." Rook said apologetically. He took out a recorder before turning it on. He wanted to make sure they didn't miss anything. "I hope you do not feel offended by me recording this."

Eiar didn't, it was good way to make a record for the Council and the Plumbers. There were a few secrets she forgot to tell all of them earlier. "I cursed Ben with the bestial curse, based on five inner traits that were less than desirable, based on observations and research." She started to count off her fingers each trait while the others silently agreed with her. "You're arrogant, selfish, disrespectful and inconsiderate, lack of using your brain, and most importantly, vanity. My curse merely manifested these traits outside by choosing animals that are linked with these traits."

Ben was completely puzzled. How exactly these animals were related his so called bad traits. "That's a load of dung. Everyone here can testify that I'm not like anything you described." Turning to his friends and family, his big green eyes pleaded for them to say something positive. As the silence lasted his head drooped knowing they weren't going to say anything. He growled messing up his words as he asked how to break the curse and what the tattoo on him meant.

"The bestial curse, is a strong one. At times you'll find the animal instincts taking over. The longer you remain in this state the worse it gets," Eiar informed him. Frowning, she turned back to her Council speaking in Anodmunasse to them. The whole Council raised their eyes at what she told them. Two Representatives were scrolling through data pods. One even pulled out an old book thumbing through the pages. He let out a small cheer as turned the book for the others to look at. There was a consensuses as President Asa answered her granddaughter's question.

Eiar let out a deep breath, letting her worries fading away. At least one part of the problem was explained. Ben's mental state was coming and going so quickly due to all the times he used the Omnitrix. His mind wasn't built to handle multiple animal minds at one time because it was use to alien's taking over. Hopefully he'd adjust to his animal instincts soon.

Returning to the matter at hand, she picked up where she left off. This time she had a visual aid. Pulling open her bag, she took out the large tome flipping through the pages until she came to a familiar fairy tale. Flipping the tome over, there was a beautiful illuminated page. It was written in Anodmunasse, but they could all make out the title, _"La belle et la bête_" Max, Verdona, and Rook got it, though the Galvans were clueless while Ben had a tick forming.

"There is a grain of truth to every story, I highly recommend reading the original story in French before drawing on other sources for information. The rose represents hope and time. I gave you one human year to find someone who see's and understand better than you can. As time passes petals will wither and fall of the tattoo, a reminder of how much time is left." She hugged the book tightly, this was one of her favorite stories and the inspiration for this particular curse. It hadn't been cast in fifty years because of the potential failure rate.

"Only love, doesn't matter if it's family or friend, though romantic love is preferred, in this case. Through close interaction, your beauty will help you overcome your faults, grow into a better person. Only when both parties say the words, "I love you" then the curse is broken."

"How am I rooooooooooarrrrrrrrrr, supposed to screeeeeeeeech, interact with anyone like this? Maybe if I use an ID mask or the Omnitrix if you unlock it, will help me with this."

There was a soft chuckle from the monitor. Ben looked up as President Asa was trying to hide a chuckle. She shared a look with Verdona and suddenly both of them were laughing. Verdona suddenly stopped, standing up straight with a stern look. "As much as that sounds fun, I must insist you reconsider the lock on the Omnitrix. I know the rules of the curse are to help reminded him of actions, while searching inside for his inner strength. Still, the universe will need his help at least one a day."

Asa tapped her chin thinking over Verdona's words. No ID masks, glamor or surgery would give Ben back his human form. He could escape dealing with new form by changing, but his base form would stay the same. That would lead him to searching for a way to stay alien. At the same time, his hero aliens did help protect the universe. A compromise could be made. "My old friend, I'd be willing to bend the rules, but not break them in this case. I will assist Eiar to alter the lock on the Omnitrix. Your grandson can use it once a day for the 15 minutes until it times out. Except for that, all other functions will cease so he can't undo it."

"Once a day? How is that fair!" Ben whined until Eiar kicked him in the shins. "Hey, take what you can get. My grandma will even throw in sample of Anodite DNA. Not even Azmuth has seen it, and he comes to our planet every 250 years for a week's curse to help humble him. He never completely passes, so no sample."

Verdona touched her grandson should looking excited. "Oh Ben, take the deal please. I would love to share the spark with you. Who knows, your new form might help ensure you both succeed." Her words confused Ben, what Eiar had to worry about.

Eiar, who had retrieved the teleported crystal, containing the DNA, along with an armband to link her with her grandmother. "This is my Right of Passage remember? I'm supposed to help guide you to ensure that you learn the lesson needed to break the curse. If you fail to break it and up staying a beast forever, then I will also suffer. I'll be stripped of my powers, exiled from home and have to live the rest of my life on Earth. My kind can live up to 275, the oldest making it to 315. Imagine how hard that will be."

Ben felt a twinge of guilt, he could sympathize with Eiar. He wouldn't want to be exiled from Earth. Still she put herself in this position. He watched as, Eiar, with the help of her grandmother, used her green manna dust to open the Omnitrix. A yellow light flashed as it captured the sample of Anodite DNA, before locking down. It sparked for a few seconds then went silent. "Try not to hit the core so hard, you only get one chance."

"So that's it? I have to find a beauty to help undo this curse. A flower to keep track of time. All while trying to carry out my normal life looking like this. This is going to be impossible," Ben moaned.

"Well you better get your act together, because I have no desire to fail my Right of Passage. So go home, rest for a night and we'll meet up again," Eiar informed him before saying goodbye to her grandmother. It was going to be a long year.

* * *

Unfortunately, Ben wasn't the most cooperative Valið_ sveinspróf. _Max had no choice, but to tell his son and daughter-in-law what happened. As suspected, Carl was very belligerent about what had happened to his son. He argued with his father that they allowed their son to continue his superhero activities because it was the right thing, and, they thought he would be keeping a close eye on their son. Sandra was also upset seeing her son so miserable, though to Ben's surprise and possible anger, his parents said that maybe this was a blessing in disguise.

"How can you two screeeech croak, ummmmmmmmm!" he stood up so fast he knocked the couch over and nearly shattered a lamp. His tail whipped around nearly striking his Grandpa, who ducked as the stinger got stuck in the wall. Panicking, Ben tried to pull it out, but with little success. He kept driving it in deeper until his mother's voice rang out telling him to calm down and behave himself this instant or he was grounded. That seemed to bring him back to reason. "Sorry Mom."

"It's okay Ben, it's going to be alright," she hugged him before turning to Max. "Is there a way to prevent these animal outbursts?" She wanted to help her son in any way she could. Maybe she could make a special diet for his system, by his looks no one could be sure what his digestive track could handle. She would be willing to even adjust his clothing so it fit better so he wouldn't feel so awkward about walking around "naked".

Max sighed before saying, "Your mother-in-law, suggested that Ben needs to remain calm and relax. Ben would benefit greatly from your health routines. From what Verdona seen, the cursed people need to adjust to their condition rather quickly. With your help, Ben's animal instincts will merge into a single personality, one he can regulate with his true personality." Seeing Ben sniffing around hopefully Max moaned. "Try to keep him as human as possible. The longer this goes on the harder it will be to reach his humanity."

His parents agreed to help out the best they could. Max assured him that he and Verdona would check in once in a while to see how he was progressing. He also had the duty of delivering bad news to Ben. While he was cursed, he was not on active Plumber duty, instead Ben would take a sabbatical. With little else to say he left the family alone.

For the next month Ben didn't leave his house. He refused to go to school or talk to anyone. His time with his parents was short and brief. At first, he willingly did the exercises and ate his mom's healthy diet. Now he refused to come out of his room. Ben was falling into a deep depression having shoved most of his belongings in his closet and tossing his keys into the hall. The only thing he did, was sat on his bed sleeping or looking at his tattoo. He would use his transformation to get rid of his misery for a while.

Ben was staring at the tattoo watching a petal crumbling to dust as it fell off. His animal mind, which had come together, wanted to take out his misery by shredding his bedding. He raised his talons to tear his mattress right open when he heard a familiar voice tittering. "Really? This is why you've isolated yourself in your bedroom? You wanted to destroy your room?" He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Eiar was standing in his room looking annoyed with a hint of pity.

"How did you…."

"You're Mom called me to come over. She and your dad, seem to think you need to take a bath and get outside. You're wasting away in here and losing time. I gave you a human year to undo the curse. I won't be exiled here because you're too lazy to do the work!"

"You're the one who caused this! I learned my lesson, just undo this," he pleaded with her. He couldn't keep going like this for another eleven months. He was starting to forget what he looked like.

Eiar shook her head in disgusted. "You've learned nothing. Find someone who can see and understand better than you can," she insisted. With a flick of her wrist she released red dust that transformed into messages. Blinking all the messages went out to different people, telling them to help get Ben out of the house and working on undoing his curse. No exceptions, he wasn't allowed to lay around in his room. He glared at her. "You can't just order me around."

"Actually I can. This is my _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir. _My life is on the line and so is yours. We need to cooperate if we're both going to learn what this sojourn is all about. I'll see you down in Undertown by day after tomorrow at the latest. Good day!" she said, stomping out of the house. Riding her solar bike, she came to a conclusion. If she was going to help Ben and understand the meaning of this rite, then it was up to her to find the _beauty _for the _beast. _


	3. A Beauty's Choice

_Hi readers, just wanted to say that there will be no chapter next week because I'll be gone for a little while. But I will return on the 30th. Until then have fun!_

* * *

Eiar was in her room, at the hostel using the computer, to research for the perfect girl for Ben. She doubted he would check out any of the teens' hot spots for a date. She didn't trust Internet dating, besides, what girl would be attracted to his profile picture? Not to mention she didn't want any fan girls to come out of the woodworks. Tapping away at the keyboard she tried to narrow down her search.

"This is impossible! The only solid human relationship he had been with Julie Yamato and that ended because of his bone headed moves. Elena Validus got turned into a Nanite Queen and hasn't been seen in a long while. Kai Green only likes Blitzwolf," Eiar muttered to herself striking the desk in frustration. She didn't even count that fame relationship with Jennifer Nocturne, the former film star. If humans weren't an option maybe aliens would work.

His track record wasn't that great either. He liked Eunice, Azmuth's pseudo daughter, but her human form came from Gwen's DNA, making her family. That wouldn't work at all. Watching video clips of Princess Looma's and Empress to be Attea weren't better. They only liked Ben's alien forms of their species. Not him, which wouldn't break the curse. She was just about to give up when something in the video caught her eye.

"What do we have here?" she whispered. She isolated and brought up a picture from the video feed from the incident Rook labeled, "Catfight." There, helping Rook and his date Rayona, was a Kraaho named Ester helping them out. "Judging by her slim appearance and the use of her powers, she's seems to be a hybrid. Better get all the facts on her."

Eiar called down to Kad, asking if she had any local media about Undertown's group leaders. Kad responded they did, sending it straight up to her along with reports from the Bellwood newspaper. Checking local chat groups she found one where the kids of Undertown could talk about their lives without adult interference. Reading the glowing comments about how fun, caring, and opened minded Ester she was made the girl a strong possibility. She didn't hesitate to do the right thing, even challenging her former leader for the title of Chief. Looking at her appearance and reading her bio data Eiar smiled. This is who she was looking for, a half human half alien girl, who already had feelings for Ben. She was the perfect beauty!

"I have to go talk to her, see if she'll get involved in this. Oh my, the Hot Spot, that temperature would fry me. Better make preparations first before heading out." She really hoped that the Kraaho wouldn't attack her once she got there. Praying to Pax and Caron for guidance. No one said the, _Dveljast niður tvær leiðir, _would be easy.

* * *

An hour and half later she found herself parking her solar bike next to the entrance of the Hot Spot. Using the special security lock, to make sure no one would steal it, she took a deep breath before entering the home of the Kraaho's. Her aura was getting brighter and stronger as it wrapped itself around her body to shield her from the effects of the heat. She made sure to drench herself with water across her body to keep her from getting dehydrated.

Coming out of the tunnel she witnessed the Kraaho lying around the lava pools. They were talking with one another as little children played tag with burning rocks. Glancing to the left she nearly vomited as a pair of Kraaho enjoyed a much scorched unidentifiable animal. Everyone seemed at peace and happy. They hadn't realized they had a guest yet, so Eiar decided to use her powers. Using her powers she constructed a megaphone. Tapping it she called out. "Hello down there! It's very nice to meet the Kraaho clan of Undertown. I wish to speak with your leader Ester, about a matter of importance."

"Not another interfering human. I've had it with your intrusions. Time to take care of business my way!" A voice said to her side. Hearing the snap of elastic Eiar managed to twist out of the way as Seebik enhanced power punch nearly took her head off. He stretched his legs moving fast around her managing to kick her hard down the rock face sending children scattering. Tan dust appeared over her scrapped arm and hand healing it. Pushing herself up she found herself flattened on the ground as someone dug their feet into her back. "AHHHHHHHHHH."

"That's right, scream little human, know your place!" Seebik told her cruelly. He picked her up tightening his long arms around her trying to constrict. In the background she could hear the other Kraaho's panicking, some calling for Ester while others hid. The lava bubble spewing out chunks of burning rock all over the place. The heat was really starting to get to her. "Is…this…how…you treat…your neighbors?" she hissed, wiggling around trying to get free.

"Neighbors no, intruders yes! I won't let anymore humans influence ooooooommmmmm," Seebik stopped talking as a large pumpkin pie filled his mouth, causing him to gag. That was the opening Eiar was hoping for pulling forward before snapping her head back smashing into his face. Instinctively he let her go. Jumping into the air she unleashed a powerful whirlpool trapping Seebik inside. She struggled to maintain it, but the heat exhausted her causing in to collapse. She was weakly trying to get away as Seebik reached for her to throw her in a lava pit, when a loud female voice yelled. "ENOUGH! Seebik stop this now!" Seebik growled but retracted his arms. Someone knelt next to her and gave her some much needed water. Thanking the Kraaho, two of the helped her stand as she watched Ester and Seebik arguing. It seemed to be an old one, him aggressively trying to protect the tribe from any threats, while she defended her position of being good neighbors while learning new trades to help them live in Undertown better. She bristled as he mentioned her father.

"Are they always like this?" Eiar asked one of the Kraaho, holding her up. The alien answered pretty much, while a majority of the tribe agreed with Ester and followed her lead, some of the older generation didn't respect the teen half-breed at all causing a stir among the groups. Knowing that this fight could go on all day she whistled loudly breaking up the two of them.

"That's enough, my name is Eiar Dagurdottie, a Wiccman, not a human. I've come here to speak with your leader about an important matter to me and Ben Tennyson. As soon as my business is concluded, I will leave your tribe in peace," she swore bowing to each of them. Ester dismissed her aides, gave Seebik a warning, before gesturing Eiar to follow her to her private chamber. She hadn't heard from Ben in a month, causing her to worry about him. She hoped he was alright. Also she hoped this girl could be her friend because she didn't have any female friends her own age.

* * *

The chamber was on a high ledge with an actual door to give her some privacy. Eiar raised an eyebrow at what was in it. It appeared to be a normal teen bedroom, with a bit of Mexican flair. Warm colors had bee painted on the walls cheering the place up. A brightly colored, geometrical design, hand crafted nature decorations were placed on the wall on the right in the middle. On the opposite wall hanging over the desk and dresser, were posters of famous 1930's Mexican actors as well as some famous football, (soccer), stars. Her bed had an iron style headboard with a colorful bedspread. Next to the bed was a small night stand with some pictures in it. Lights dotted the ceiling giving off extra warmth.

"Are you planning on going on a trip to Mexico sometime soon?" Eiar asked kindly. She once traveled to, the providence Indigina Nativor, it had the largest collection of endangered and native tribes that had been nearly wiped out or forgotten from Earth. Amazingly, the tribes had been the first, to learn to cooperate with one another. When she had visited she had met some Tononac, a tribe indigenous to Mexico, and learned a few words in their language.

Ester giggled softly. "My mom was Mexican with some Yucatán roots. My parents actually met there. My dad was trying to find very warm places on Earth for our colony to live in above ground."

"What Death Valley and the Sahara not good enough for the Kraaho's?" Eiar joked taking a seat by the desk. Her comment sparked another round of laughing. True those places were really hot, but not hot enough for the Kraaho's, besides there would be no food or water, did they drink water even? Ester picked up a photo from her nightstand handing it over for Eiar to look at.

It was an adorable family photo. Standing together, in what appeared to be a deep underground sauna, was a tall, slightly muscular Kraaho male, who was the spitting image of Ester, but his hair was longer and brick-red. His markings were also wider then hers with little narrow jagged tips. He wore native Kraaho clothing without the coat. His left arm wrapped around the shoulders of a pretty woman. A beautiful, petite woman with lighter skin tone then the more popular olive color of people from Mexico stood next to him. Her lush brunette hair was pulled back in a traditional culture dancer look, making her wide brown eyes sparkle. She was dressed in a light weight, warm colored sundress. Her arms were holding a bundle as both parents looked down at the newborn Ester smiling. Looking closer she saw they both wore wedding rings. "You have a beautiful family."

Ester frowned a bit taken the picture back sitting on her bed tracing her parents faces. "I _had _a nice family. My mother met my father during a traditional festival. She was one of the chosen dancers to perform the _Parachicos_, a traditional dance to celebrate the saints. She liked my dad's "costumes." Her expression was very expressive as her fingers tightened around the frame. "Did she know she wasn't afraid of him at all when she learned the truth?"

"Your mother must have been really brave," Eiar replied. Thinking back to the photo the woman pictured there had such confidence, love and beauty, but strength and intelligent as well. Her assumption of Rosa, (Ester mother's name) building a place for the Kraahos was correct. She had used her own money and skills to create an underground sauna for her husband. The year after they married, the couple was blessed with little Ester. "Forgive me, but you don't have a Mexican accent and I haven't heard you speak Spanish or Indigenous either. How come?"

_"HABLO un poco de ambos todavía. _I have few memories of growing up in Mexico. When I was two my parents actually went out to eat dinner. Dad bundled up and mom had given him an extra sweater, for a special occasion. They had a great time, but the next day she was very sick," Ester said, trying to hold back tears. She could still smell the hospital room, the frightened looks from the doctors and her parents pleading voices to be together. No could figure out what was wrong, except it seemed to be an extreme anaphylaxis reaction to something. Unable to pinpoint the cause and with her not responding to treatment, her mother died three days later. She remembered how they had two funerals to honor her in both cultures.

"After her death, my father wanted to honor her love for life and peace between people. He continued to search until two and half years ago, we came across the Hot Spot. He was determined to make it our home if we all worked together. Seebik was his right hand man. I recall them fighting a lot. I was 14 looking for friends. The last time I saw my dad alive was the night before he died. I told him about meeting my friends up on the surface. He was proud of me and said he had some business to take care off, but he didn't come."

Eiar didn't need to ask what happened. Her aura was giving her everything she needed. Finding her father, Calor, dead at the base of a rock slide had hurt her a lot. "You've been through so much, I can understand why you would hide your human side. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Ester snorted, it was a big deal to the older members of the tribe. They couldn't stand her at times. When she would go up top, there were whispers if she would ever come back or abandon the tribe. It was heart breaking at times. Pushing those thoughts out of her mind she stood up straight on the bed giving the Wiccman her full attention. "You said you had news on Ben and that you needed my help. Please explain what you know as clearly as possible."

* * *

The other girl wasted no time as went into full story teller mode, with white and gold manna dust for visuals. Ester said nothing as the lecture went on. When she saw a visual of what Ben looked like she didn't flinch or gave the photo a pity look, merely a concerned look for her friend. When it came to the reason of Eiar's visit, the girl felt her limbs stretching off the bed in surprise. She wasn't expecting to be the solution to the problem.

"Are you sure about this? I like Ben a lot, but really love him? I don't know we're so young and got crazy lives. Isn't there someone else who could help Ben? Maybe a friend that's a girl or his family. You said that kind of love was also acceptable," Ester replied as she retracted her limbs and played with her fingers. She didn't want to fail Ben if she was the only hope.

"He's got stable family bonds and his friends, well, I can't figure out who's a friend or a foe sometimes. He's slipping already, he's needs a beauty to stabilize him. I've done the research and you are the only one who can help. I want to bargain with you for your help please."

Ester was going to reply, but someone else spoke up first, "I would take the girl up on her offer Ester, "I listen to her offer if I was you Ester, Ben's not the only one who has some growing to do." Turning to look at the door they saw a middle age Kraaho woman with long dark red, almost purple hair. She was a bit slimmer then most woman and her eyebrows were smaller. She stretched her hand out and Eiar took it and shook with a firm grip. "It's a pleasure to meet you Eiar. I'm Ester's guardian, Ixchel. I was a friend of her father's, when he passed I decided to keep an eye on little Ester, not that she listens often. I decided to see what you girls were up to."

Ester flushed embarrassed by her guardian's comment. "I'm not that much trouble Ixchel!" Her guardian tilted her head with an amused smile. She turned to Eiar to tell her about all the trouble her charge got in when said being interrupted her. "Maybe we should focus on the bargain you came about. Exactly, how do I help Ben? He already knows me and that I like him. How come that's not enough to help break the curse?"

"Because," Eiar emphasized, "He's too caught up in his misery and shame, to be aware of your love. I figure he's pretty much oblivious when you give him hints right?" The hybrid girl nodded, that was one thing she didn't like was he didn't really pay attention when it came to romance. "There's a second curse that goes with the bestial curse, although most of this time this one is cast alone. In fact, the casting of these two curses together hasn't been attempted in over a hundred and fifty years. I think though the extreme circumstances warranted it. I want to cast the beauty curse on you."

Ester started to protest about being cursed only to stop in mid sentence with a look from Ixchel, who covered her mouth with one stretchy hand and used her other limb to place hand on the Wiccman girl's shoulder. In a calm voice, she asked for a full explanation.

It took a few minutes for the girl to explain. She had a hard time at first because she didn't want to insult the Kraaho's by the beauty curse was the reverse of the bestial curse. It meant the "monster" was on the outside and the beautiful person she had locked inside. After fumbling over her words, Ixchel assured her they understand what she meant. In this case, Ester was happy about her outside looks and at peace, but inside, she had locked up her human half, not willing to let its beauty to the surface.

"I see, in this case the curse would swap Ester's genetic code, her recessive human genes would become dominate, while the Kraaho becomes recessive. It sounds like a good idea," Ixchel responded, holding her chin in her hands. Having watched Ester growing up, she knew that the girl suffered a lot of bullying for being a half-breed. It had made her work twice as hard to be accepted. Seebik was one of the worst, only when her tolerance was needed, did he have anything to do with her. "You've lost touch with your human half and need to get it back."

"But what about the tribe? I'm its leader! I can't be cursed or go about being a human for a while. I have too many responsibilities," Ester spoke up loudly. There was no time for her to be reconnecting with her human half, or her mother's culture.

Crossing her arms and stretching above the teen leader, Ixchel started to lecture her. "Ester Flavia Tintino-Sentna, you're making excuses. Your advisors and I handle the leadership when you go out on dates, we can handle taking care of the tribe while you're helping your friend. I know I'm being forceful, but you have issues that also need to be resolved. You need more self-confidence when it comes to trusting yourself to make the right decision." Holding up a hand she stopped the girl from arguing she did have self-confidence. Instead, she pointed out that lately her self-confidence had gone down with all the talk about her being a weak half-breed.

Ixchel went on to further explain that Ester needed to learn the importance of acceptance and inner strength. That keeping her secrete talents to herself, was not health,y and she should share them with others. Most importantly, to keep hope going no matter how difficult things were. Ester seemed very puzzled by her words, she didn't understand some of the issues, feeling she had resolved them long ago, but if her guardian thought it working on them was necessary, then she do it.

* * *

"Because of your status, I can't curse you directly, but I can place my curse on an object, enchanting it so to speak. I'll use these relics," Eiar explained pulling out a small decorative hand mirror and an old garnet ring shaped like a rose. These relics were symbols from the original story, to see what was going on somewhere else and to take person when they needed to go. In this case, she'd alter the ring's purpose.

"This ring will help transform you to human and back. Twist the garnet rose clockwise three times, with each turn say 'I want to be human' and the curse will turn you human. To switch back turn the rose anticlockwise saying 'I want to be Kraaho'." Eiar told Ester. She started to dust the ring with her manna before as she cast beauty curse on it. "_Ester Flavia Tintino-Stena, I cast thy beauty curse on this ring to be placed on you. What human beauty lies inside shall appear on the outside as Kraaho blood reverts outside in. Thy traits spoken of before, self-confidence, secret talents revealed, while inner strength, hope, and acceptance follow after. For eleven months this curse will last, until beast and beauty as one say I love you thus ending both curses. Let beauty shine through!" _

The ring glowed multiple colors before returning to normal. Ester took it, asking about the risks and consequences. Eiar explained everything in detail. If the ring came off, she be stuck in the form she had wished until it was back on her finger. It was important that she didn't lose it and if it slipped off, retrieve it quickly. At the end of the eleven months if the curse wasn't broken, she be stuck in the form she was in at the time. If it was human, she wouldn't be able to stay with her people, if Kraaho, she would lose her human half completely becoming a full fledge Kraaho. The ring was protected by powerful manna, it would take a tremendous force to destroy it.

Ester gave her a grin, hiding her fear from Eiar. She plucked the mirror from Eiar's hand as soon as it was manna covered. The mirror would work like in the story and she could talk to people by focusing on them as the stood in front of a reflective surface. The Kraaho teen agreed to meet Eiar tomorrow morning at the hostel to plan their meeting with Ben and "Flavia". Wishing her luck the two girls wished each other goodbye. Hopefully this would work.

* * *

Early the next morning Ester arrived at the hostel, meeting Eiar in the lounge. Eiar had spread out a map of Undertown on the coffee table marking different routes on the map. Sitting back on the fancy settee, she pointed to the cathedra which Ester took. The chieftess settled down pulling the ring out of her coat pocket. "Are we sure this is the best way to go with this? I feel like I'm lying to Ben, not the best start for a relationship."

Eiar waved away her fears. Technically she wouldn't be lying. Ben knew she was half human, but never asked more about her past. As long as she kept to her story Ben wouldn't feel hurt by her words. She asked if the girl had brought the spare clothes, which Ester nodded affirmative. Ixchel had pulled out one of her mom's old sundress's, using her surprising seamstress skills, to alter the dress to make it fit and look modern. She even found matching shoes and jewelry!

"Good, you'll change into them in the spa. I think a little human primping would help and it's the best stress relief treatment in the world! I took advantage of it last night. The hot spring's mixed with glacier water, is the best, but a hot coal massage sounds like something you enjoy," Eiar recommend, she laughed as her manna started to swirl around trying to recreate the treatment.

A spa day did sound like fun to Ester, she never did get to enjoy the simple pleasures of being a girl. "So after all this beauty and girl time, how to you supposed I encounter Ben for the 'first time?" It was a good question.

"I got it covered, I asked some of the other youths to help me out, and making it look like you're human stuck in Undertown, working for aliens to survive. They promised not to seriously rough you up. I'm meeting Ben in two hours. I'm going to take him around Undertown, showing him the consequences of his last visit. You'll wait here and then it's show time when I give the signal. Ready?" The girls high-fived each other as they started to implement their plan.

* * *

Two hours later Eiar was sitting on a bench under a lavender colored docfia tree from the Flors Verdance. The scent of fresh leaves tickled her nose and the artificial breeze warmed her skin. She glanced at her glove that had a built in watch feature. Ben was late getting here. She was about to call when she felt a tingle in her head. Turning to the gate she saw Ben standing their looking nervous. It appeared his mom had modified outfit to look like his Blitzwolf outfit. She had even made a special cover for his stinger so he wouldn't poison someone by accident.

She waved her hand as she walked over to Ben. "It's nice to see you not moping in your bedroom. I really like your outfit. It's very cool." Ben grunted as he scratched his arms. He looked forlorn at the Omnitrix, then at the tattoo. So far no more petals had fallen, but one was starting to crumble. Looking around everyone was giving him a wide berth.

"Come on, I don't look half as bad as other species. Compared to species living in the Anur System, I look normal," Ben protested only to get a frown from Eiar. Using her imagination, she created a zapper that made Ben's body fritz and frazzle. "Okay, sorry, it was wrong of me to say that."

Eiar rolled her eyes. At least he was _attempting _to be a nicer person. "Come on, we've got places to visit today," she told him unchaining her solar bike. With a wave of her hand she created a pull along. "Get in and wear a helmet please." Ben's eyes darted from her, to the pull on, and back. She couldn't expect him to ride in that? Eiar was getting impatient. She grabbed him and shoved in the pull on. "We don't have all day. So stop whining and get with it. We're going to visit all the places you've damaged here. Be ready to apologize sincerely."

For the next hour Ben was taken on the Ben Ten Destruction Tour. Keeping the Beast at bay, he started to see that his actions had caused damage to a lot of areas, some still in construction, despite being months old. When he asked why, it was because the owners didn't have enough money to replace what was broken. When it came to Packmar, Ben got locked in a solid box of manna as he tried to apologize, only for Packmar to gloat about his punishment fitting his crimes.

Later they arrived at the grand reopening of the tea shop he trashed the last month. The building had a whole new store front. Peering through the glass they could make out new tables, chairs and pillows for customers to sit on. The front desk had been replaced with an updated metal and wood look. The servers were using new tea cups, pots and trays, seeing as how everything was destroyed in the crash.

"Madame Ju, was able to reopen her store, because volunteers, such as myself and neighboring businesses, worked together to fix the building and restock her supplies. Otherwise, she wouldn't be back in business and able to support her daughter, mother, and grandmother. I waited for you to come back here to apologize, but you didn't, you didn't even inquire if she needed help fixing her store."

Ben got out of the pull on, removing the helmet from his head. "I thought that the Plumbers took care of the damages." He knew Gerry from Resources was supposed to be in charge of managing the damages received account, for when Plumbers accidentally destroyed property or had to commandeer a place or vehicle. Considering how much damage he managed to create, Ben suspected the damages by him were too high to for the account to cover without draining the entire Plumber's funds.

"Judging by your expression, I think you're finally getting it. Why don't you stop inside to see if you can make amends for your actions?" Behind her back she mixed manna and her aura creating a brief flash of light. That was the signal. The youths from breakfast were all ready to go and so was Ester. As Ben was walking to the shop she stopped him. "Listen do you hear that?"

"Sounds like trouble, we should investigate it. It's hero time!" He slammed is hand on the activation key, resetting it. Instead of his intended alien, XLR8, he got Chromastone. "Oh man, well better make this work!" Absorbing energy from a nearby lighting panel he took flying off towards the sound. Canceling the pull on Eiar followed on her solar bike.

In an abandon lot, the trio of Kincerlerans were running circles around someone as from the air the Aerophibians used their laser tails to shoot at someone in the middle. Standing off to the side giving orders was the lone Methanosian while tossing fire up in the air. With a twitch of his hand stalks of plants started to grow. "Come on teach that brat a lesson!" Stretching his hand he was ready to assist when right on cue an energy blast cut off his hand. He winced, it didn't hurt that bad, but it was hard to regenerate from energy blasts.

"What do we have here? A group of thugs trying to rustle up someone for money?" Chromastone asked, standing there with his arms crossed. He tapped his foot angrily. "I'm not going to wait around for an answer. Tell me what's going on?"

"Back off Crystalsapien. Shouldn't you be back on Petropia guarding those mineral heads?" the Methanosian questioned. Using his plants he tried to attack Chromastone, but the sharp edges of the alien cut his plants. Angered he flung fire at him only for Ben to send it back more powerful.

By this time the other alien youths had joined in trying to fight Chromastone. They had to act like they were a real threat, but at the same time not hurt anyone seriously. From a rooftop across the street, Eiar used her manna to protect everyone from getting seriously harmed. As the battle reached the ten minute mark she signaled the youths to vanish, which they did in a cloud of methane. Creating a magic carpet, she flew over the gas making it vanish with a giant fan before landing in front of timed out Ben. "That was weird, it was like they weren't interested in fighting me at all."

Eiar shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows what they wanted. Let's go check on who they were attacking." Ben followed cautiously as Eiar knelt and propped up the victim. At that moment all the air in his lungs seem to constrict as he looked at the girl.

Before him was a beautiful Mexican girl with lightly olive skin and crimped short almond brown hair with the biggest eyes he had ever seen. She had a slightly toned frame with some nice curves in her body. She was wearing a beautiful sundress made in traditionally, colored panels of fabric with matching wedge heeled shoes. Small gold studs and turquoise necklace, with a garnet ring on her right hand completed her look. He was so caught up in her appearance he almost missed her speaking to him. "Thanks' for the rescue, but I don't really need help. My name is Flavia Tintino."

* * *

At Plumber's HQ, Rook was video conferencing with Gwen and Kevin. The day after Ben was cursed, he contacted them to assist him, in finding ways to help free Ben from his curse. Kevin had used his contacts across the universe to learn more about others who had been cursed and what they did to break them. Gwen had been busy trying to track down an original copy of the story, which would be difficult, considering it was published in 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve . Gwen was hoping she could find a copy in the rare book collection in her college library. The tricky part would be "borrowing" it without letting anyone know she had it.

"How is your search going Gwendolyn? Were you able to find the book?" Rook asked anxiously. He'd been keeping track of Ben's mental state, for now the Beast was at bay, having fully integrated as one personality, yet he was unsure how long it could be held back. Verdona had gone to Wiccma to talk in person with President Asa, to gather specific details about the curse to learn the extent of its powers and possibly, its origins. Eiar had hinted that the original story would be the key to helping Ben to become human again.

"Friedkin University, _does_ have a copy of the original story in the rare book sections. I can't even borrow it let alone open it to the right page. However, the librarian agreed to let me look at the right pages through a special glass to prevent it from crumbling. I'm going to use my magic to make copies of the pages. Hopefully, with two people, looking at them, we can figure out what Eiar meant. I'll get the copies to you as soon as possible," Gwen assured him. Behind her glasses you could see her worry. After learning what happened, she had called Ben offering to come back, and see if she could help him. He had growled at her between yelling he didn't need her pity. Uncle Carl, wrestled the phone away from his son, asking his niece to help, but keep her actions under the table for now.

"Has Ben had any more Beast takeovers?" she asked. Rook shook his head responding. "Until today, Ben had not left his home. He was forced by his parent's to visit with Eiar today. I believe it was mentioned that she was going to have Ben apologize to the people he hurt by his actions."

"Yeah, that's going too difficult for him. I mean, the guy does apologize, though I'm not sure he means it lately. I'm actually relieved I'm not the monster this time. Being trapped as different aliens is bad, but I think being turned into a wild animal is worse," Kevin commented from his screen. There was no hiding his smile at Ben's ordeal. It was poetic justice in his mind. Maybe now, Ben would understand how it felt to be hunted or treated like he wasn't worth being respected.

"Kevin, please stop now. I promise you can make fun of Ben later," Gwen told him from her screen. She noticed that Kevin was in Undertown. "Did you go see Argent about this? You know that guy will betray you the first chance he gets."

"Argent has angered, so many people or been hired for the worst jobs, I knew he came across someone who could help us. I'm actually meeting the guy in half an hour. Hopefully he'll be able to help us. Contact you afterwards. See you later!" Kevin shut off his connection leaving Gwen and Rook on the screen.

Gwen looked down at her watch. "I've got to go too. The librarian told me she could squeeze me in before closing the rare book section. I'll send you the copies once I get them. Take care!" Rook sighed shutting down the communication center. He went to find Magistrate Tennyson, hopefully he had heard from his estranged wife.

Max was sitting in his office, filling out reports of Plumber activities and requisition new equipment for the base. Glancing to his holoscreen he watched his grandson discreetly. When he saw Ben engaging those youths, he was about to send back up, only for a red message scroll pop into existence. Eiar explained how she was using her fellow youths to stage a meeting between a "beauty" as coined it, so she could get Ben started on his path. After watching the feed, seeing there was no real damage to anything or anyone, he calmed down. There was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Rook entered taking a seat. "Magister Tennyson, I like to report that both Gwendolyn and Kevin had made some progress on their end. I hope by tomorrow we will have enough data to figure out the origins of the story and details about breaking the curses. Has Sentora Verdona returned yet?" Looking around he saw no sign of the Anodite female.

"Verdona's meeting with President Asa will be finished up tomorrow. She should be back on Earth in a day and half," Max informed. He silently hoped his fun loving estranged wife would not get side tracked. Her grandson life was dependent on knowing everything about this curse and the best way to help Ben out. I never would have guessed that a fairy tale would come to haunt me one day."

"I am also puzzled by the purpose of these stories. Many are unrealistic and poorly portray women. I failure to see how telling stories about impossible things helps children grow up properly."

Max looked at the young Revonnahgander before him. A very serious Plumber and great tactician, Rook seemed to lack imagination. "Fairy Tales were originally written for adults, but over time were given to children to read. Many of the stories have valuable lessons hidden in them, or, give birth to imagination and creativity. Do your people not have stories for young ones?"

"Yes, my mother would tell, my sisters and me, stories describing events long ago. One of them is very similar to your version of Beauty and the Beast. It's about a young female Revonnahgander, Talented Zarina, who strays from the Amber Ogia harvest to explore. While out on her own she came across a pack of Muroids. Stumbling, ended up covered in the juice attracting the pack. She screamed for help and her father came, but he was no match alone for a pack led by the biggest male ever seen. Right before he could strike the killing blow, Zarina pleads with the Muroids to spare her father and take her life instead. The male called of his pack dragging the girl back to their cave."

"Many thought the girl was dead for Muroids occasionally eat young Revonnahganders, especially if they are approaching puberty or barely past. For many years Zarina's death was a reminder to obey parents and not stray. Then one day, nearly fifteen years later, Zarina reappeared fully grown and with the alpha male Muroids, now transformed into a handsome man. Both she and her husband spoke of their times in the caves, where she had learned to survive and contribute to the pack. That one day she fed him a rare blue Amber Ogia that restored him back to his true form. Everyone celebrated their return with joy. That is why the rare blue Amber Ogia is protected for we believe it has special healing properties."

"It's strange how many adaptations of a simple story exist on Earth. I'm not even surprised that much by your people having an adaptation. Still, the similarity between them is frightening. I wonder, could stories have the same origin?" Max muttered looking at a surprised Rook. If that was true, then they need find out fast.

* * *

In the Hot Spot, it was a normal day for them. Everyone was aware that Ester was helping her new friend with the Ben Problem. She would be back in a few days to talk with her guardian Ixchel to see how the tribe was doing. Ixchel was doing a magnificent job taking care of the day to day problems. The problem was, she couldn't be everywhere at once.

Seebik was meeting in one of the deeper tunnels talking with his supporters. Lackno, was busy taking notes trying to stay warm in these tunnels, away from main heat source. "Seebik, can we hurry this up, I'm getting really…"

Seebik grabbed Lackno drawing him close to his face snarling. "No talking about how cold you get! I need you to be quiet and just take notes." He shoved the male away looking at the small gathering of supporters. Most of them were males, but there was one or two females waiting to hear from him.

"Members of the Kraaho, we have been strong and tough for a long time. We've survived leaving our home world, finding a home on Earth, and of course during my great leadership after our beloved Calor. Yet, his daughter is making us weak, holding us back from claiming this planet for ourselves. She would have us be friends with the coldcuts, instead of us dominating them! Even now she acts like a human teen, embarrassing us by dating the human who ate our fusion device. Why is she helping another outsider and the boy, instead of leading us?"

His rhetoric was perfect as he gathered support. He played on the fears of the older generation, making them remember times long ago. If he could get enough people on his side, he could perform a coup and take leadership back forcefully. This time he wouldn't let that half breed have a chance at the chief hood. Very soon Ester would be joining her parents in the afterlife.


	4. Guest in the House

The following morning Eiar and Ester were waiting in her room for Ben to come to the hostel. Yesterday had been a bit much for Ester to handle. Trying to act like a tough street girl, while wearing a dress, didn't come naturally to her. When Ben awkwardly tried to talk to her, for some reason she felt scared and backed away. Eiar managed to grab her arm to keep her from running off. She suggested that "Flavia" come back to the hostel with her, as her guest, so that she could "recover", from her encounter. Ben had wanted to come with, in the end though he agreed to meet up with them in the lobby of the building for brunch.

"I can't believe I wanted to run away from Ben yesterday. I've never been afraid of any alien before, nor was I upset about his looks, when you showed me that picture, so why did I have the urge to run away?" Ester questioned as she finished brushing her hair. The girls were in the bathroom preparing for the day ahead. Eiar was sitting on an adjustable stool in front of the sink while Ester was using the full length mirror on the back of the door.

Eiar replied, "Because that's what your human instincts told you to do in the face of danger. It's the fight or flight response." Ester raised one eyebrow in confusion so the Wiccman decided to show her what she meant. Standing up, her aura brightened, as she used her manna to create a small scale version of Ester. "See, this is you normally, a hybrid, but thanks to the curse," the figure split into two parts, one her normal self and the other her humans self, "your now two separate identities. Suppressing your human side for so long it's created its own personality within you. Now that is its chance to show the world who it is, its acted on its own accord effecting how you think and act." With a wave of her hand the images disappeared.

"I'm guessing this is what Ixchel meant when she said I had a little growing up to do," Ester admitted. Being a human was a lot harder than she thought and it had only been for a few hours yesterday. How was she going to handle this for eleven months?! "This is going to take some getting use to isn't it?" Her companion nodded, finishing her makeup and grabbing her bag. A look at the clock on the wall told them Ben would be arriving in ten minutes for brunch. Time to change.

Looking in the mirror once more Ester started to twist the ring. "I want to be human, I want to be human, I want to be human." The ring flashed as rainbow colored energy started to spin around her body. Her skin tingled as she took a deep breath, her heart beat getting louder as she felt her body begin to change. There was no pain as her inside contorted and twisted about. Her outside looks were starting change as her hair turned to brown and fell down her head, her skin turned olive as her eyes changed to color. Her sun dress and shoes now fit her new body as the light faded away as her transformation finished. Looking down at herself she thought to herself she needed to get more clothes.

They entered the lobby just as Ben did. The security guards were on him in an instant as Kad started to demand why he was here. Ben was doing his best not to lose his temper. "So much for hospitality. What's with the security? I'm not a threat."

"We don't cater to animals, even if they're sentient. Too many of them have wrecked the hostel in the past. You will leave the premises at once!" Kad demanded with a flourish pointing to the door. She stretched her neck a little trying to look imposing. Ben cringed, but didn't back down. The fins on his arms started to change shape as poison dripped from one of them. The guards got ready to subdue him when Eiar jumped in between the two parties using her aura to block them. "Ms. Dagurdottie, I believe an explanation for your actions just now is required."

"Forgive me Ms. Kad, but this is my, _Valið sveinspróf_, he's part of my _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir. _I believe my parents explained everything to you, when they made the reservation," Eiar replied politely. She gave her a small smile as Ms. Kad checked her records, before sighing in defeat. She dismissed security warning Eiar to keep her guest under control. Promising to do so, she suggested the trio head to a small café nearby for brunch.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later they were seated outside on the terrace as they each ate their meal. Ben was gormandizing his food sending crumbs all over the place. Flavia cringed her mouth speaking for itself. "Easy chupacabra boy. Some of us like to eat like civilized people, not animals."

Was it possible for beasts to blush? Ben wondered as he stopped eating before wiping his face off with a napkin. "Sorry, I'm just very hungry. I'm not use to needing so much food to keep my energy levels up."

"You don't look like any of the aliens I've encountered, then again your girlfriend told me she cursed you for bad behavior. I wonder if it was for you table manners."

"She's _not_ my girlfriend! I'm Ben Ten the hero of the universe!" Ben boasted letting out a bit of a roar. Flavia looked less than impressed. Realizing his mistake he calmed down, stopped twitching his tail and relaxed his fins. "Sorry. So why were those punks trying to shake you down?"

"It's all part of living in Undertown, when you have nowhere else to go and you're a human. I'm a runaway," Flavia admitted. Interpreting his expression her eyes narrowed and her accent became more noticeable. "You think I'm an illegal just because I'm Mexican? I'll have you know I am a legal citizen of this country!" she snapped.

"I didn't say roar you weren't snarl. I just was wondering how someone as well-kept can be living in Undertown."

Blinking in surprise Flavia pushed her hair back crossing her legs as she apologized. She slowly explained her edited version of how she ended up in Undertown, adding she was a runaway foster kid, who did odd jobs around Undertown for different aliens to keep a roof over head. When she described the shack she supposedly lived in Ben became visually upset. He wanted to say something, but Eiar interrupted him.

"Harsh life, sounds as if you've been from one end of the world to the other. Growing up on Wiccma had its own troubles," she admitted, tugging on her glove. Twisting in her seat to get more comfortable she leaned a bit on the table. "The schools on my planet are brutal."

"How can you compare your school to the horrors of the American school system?" Ben asked. He suppressed the urge to find a sun lamp and bathe in it. His crocodile scales were getting super cold causing his chest to shiver. Eiar must have noticed because she created a lamp with her manna to help him with the problem. "Thanks, you're really good at that manna thing."

"Only because of my harsh schooling. You think it's easy to use manna or learn the history of both ancestors? It's not, it takes years of practice, thinking out of the box. Our gym classes make yours like a playdate," Eiar admitted causing the two humans to laugh. Her aura flickered in slight amusement before she pressed on. "Our gravity is a lot less so we have to train our bodies to handle the different environment. The electrical field also helps us with our family links, still it can get frustrating. I love my home, but I admit I like being off world."

Ben nodded, he talked about his first time off world. How scary it was and fighting for his life on a ship. The way he told his story was so amusing to the girls. Each of them asked questions as slowly the conversation grew. Before they knew it, an hour had passed. A chiming clock made Flavia look up at the clock, a worried expression appeared on her face. She started to get up to go, only for Ben to ask her what was wrong.

_"Volviendo a mi casa, es que está bien con usted Sr. superhéroe?" _Flavia said, surprised by how well the language came out. What she said before was true, she remembered a little Spanish, mostly phrases, but this wasn't one of them. Shaking her head, she gave Ben a look that clearly expressed she was annoyed by his question. "It's been nice hanging out with some people my own age, but I have to get back to work. I have rent to make."

Ben grabbed her wrists and placed a talon foot gently over her right foot. She struggled trying to break free. "What is your deal? Thanks for saving me and giving me some hospitality, but I got to go."

"How can you even think about going back to the streets? What if you're mugged again? How safe are you when you're doing odd jobs for different species? Some of them could be using you to take the fall for their actions," Ben pointed out to her. "You deserve better than living here."

Flavia flexed her wrist slipping free of his grasp, wiggling her foot free. While not in her true form, the curse did allow for some flexibility with her human form based on reversed gene code. Her eyes narrowed, the world around her disappeared as she focused singly on Ben. Not understanding why she was annoyed or frustrated; she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. _"Disculpe? Yo no soy una damisela en apuros que necesita que alguien la caridad a sobrevivir, especialmente de un niño que acaba de conocer."_

Ben looked at Eiar, his Spanish was rusty, he didn't have a clue what she said, and the built in translator in the Omnitrix only translated alien to English, not English to Spanish. Palming her hand the teen replied, "She's saying that she doesn't want charity, especially from someone she just met. I don't blame her, you're trying to control her."

Ben took a step back hearing that. It wasn't like that at all. "I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself. I just thought…"

"I've survived on my own for some time now. I may not have school smarts, but I got street smarts. If you don't mind, I have a job now. See you around, maybe." With that she hopped off the terrace and took off if the opposite direction from the hostel, heading back to the Hot Spot.

* * *

Eiar waited to see what Ben would do next, Ester was playing her part well. She admitted that her taking off to home surprised her a bit. The curse could only be undone if both teens worked together. Ben was about to leap after her, but stopped him with a wall. "Give her space, she's not use to having others care about her needs."

"I can't just leave her down here risking her life for survival every day!" Ben roared. His green eyes were changing to gold and his back fur was standing on edge as his tail swung about in agitation. Eiar ducked then skipped over the tail. She did the splits when a froggy hand tried to her. Pulling her hand back she did a quick series of punches on his arms before rolling between his legs punching the left and grabbing his tail, pulling herself up and tying the bulb around a table leg.

"**You silly witch, do you think you can order me around? I'll rip you apart!" ** The Beast shouted, for the first time gaining a real voice. Eiar stood her ground readying her powers if her chi blocking didn't work. She needn't worry, the Beast tried to take one step, then fell over crashing on top of the table. Eiar winced knowing she have to pay for damages.

**"Accursed witch! What have done to me now? Is this another** **enchantment of yours?" **

Eiar didn't say anything. Lowering herself till she was face to face with the Beast, she spoke soothingly in Anodmunasse, her aura surrounding the Beast. The aura wrapped itself around the creature sending soothing energy calming the rage inside, slowly the Beast's eyes changed to green as Ben regained control. "Are you alright?"

Ben nodded while trying to stand. He was visibly shaken by what had happened. He let his emotions rule him and he nearly hurt someone because of it. He couldn't allow the Beast to take control. The damage he could do to Undertown was immeasurable. "I can't believe that happened. I thought I had it under control." Looking at his forearm he noticed the petal had crumbled a bit more.

"Every time the Beast takes over, the flower will wither a bit faster, you still have the eleven months, though your mind might be gone before then," Eiar warned. The two of them paid for the damages as they left the café. The sounds of the bustling market place faded into the background. Ben's nose twitched as he tried to scent out Flavia. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't leave the girl alone.

They found her about forty five minutes later. She was talking with a female alien by a store asking for directions. She had a small box in her hand. Thanking the lady she turned to leave when she spotted Ben. She waited for him to come over. She was just about to give him a piece of her mind when he interrupted her.

"Flavia, about earlier, I didn't mean to sound as if you couldn't take care of yourself. It's none of my business how you live your life. I did save your life, but that doesn't mean I can control it."

"You got that right, so why are you here? I thought being a superhero meant not getting caught up in one rescued girl."

"Because you're different, not because you're a girl or human, but because I want to be your friend," he admitted. Chocking up a little he explained that she was the first human, who wasn't family, that hadn't run in fear of him. Flavia was flattered to hear him give her some compliments. When he was done he asked her to come to his house, not as a charity case or a victim in need of protection. Just a friend who needed some companionship. This time she agreed, leaving Eiar with a smile. At least they were making an effort to undo the linked curses.

* * *

Four days later and things were really getting heated up in the Hot Spot. Ixchel and the advisors had done their very best to help lead the tribe. So far, everything had run as smooth as coal transforming into a diamond. Every time someone would ask about Ester's whereabouts Ixchel would assure them she was in Bellwood somewhere and that she could talk to her at any moment.

Ixchel was in her chamber talking with Ester via the magic mirror. "So how is it living with your boyfriend? It must be thrilling, have you two been getting along well?" Seeing her ward's eyes droop a little she knew something was wrong. "What is it Ester, is everything not going okay?"

Ester, who was in her Kraaho form in the Tennyson's guest bedroom. She appeared to have locked the door and pulled the shades tightly closed. "Ixchel, I never knew helping a friend in need could feel like torture! Ben's so sweet and really being attentive, it's just…"

Ixchel let out a little laugh tracing the girl's image on the wall. "He's acting a bit too much? My dear, boys always act that way when they're trying not to fumble during courtship. Remember, he's got two different personalities now, each urging him to protect his possible mate and shower her with attention."

"But it's annoying me. I'm used to doing things on my own. I don't know why you believe I have self-confidence issues," Ester confessed crossing her legs and leaning against the bed post. "Ugh, maybe this was a mistake to help out with this. We've gotten into nearly a dozen fights and it's been only five days since I came here."

"Think of this as the feeling out part of your relationship. Your both vying for being the dominate one in the relationship. So you push one another, learning the limits to each other. I promise it will all work out in the end, just give it a little time."

The teen sighed, hoping her guardian was right. She had never been in a serious relationship before. Being with Ben in his normal form was fun and adventure. With both of them cursed? That was a little harder, but she wasn't about to give up. "Forget my love life for a minute, please tell me how affairs are going."

Ixchel reported that everything in the day to day affairs. They had dealt with a few arguments, punished a rule breaker, that sort of thing. They had not needed her for an official matter yet. The younger generation were treating this as just another day adventure for Ester knowing she would be back soon. When Ester inquired about the state of her people, the elder female had to admit that there was an increase of discontentment in the older generation. She needed to appear before them soon to assure them that she was still a committed leader. Both of them startled when they heard noise in the background.

* * *

"I'll handle this, don't risk getting exposed or your curse won't lift!" Ixchel warned as she left her home heading outside. She didn't hear Ester say she was coming. As she made her way to the center of the Hot Spot she could hear voices arguing getting louder. Looking down she could see that Seebik had stir up a riot between the two generations. The two groups were trying to attack one another while the advisors attempted to calm to crowd. It wasn't working as the got shoved to bottom of the pile as the riot turned into an all-out fist fight.

Standing on the top lodge looking down at group was Seebik in his full glory flexing his muscles in joy of watching the marvelous fight. He didn't even flinch when Ixchel called him out, wrapping her long arms around him and gave him a hard yank so he was in front of Ixchel. Rocks rained down into the lava pits causing them to hiss while spitting up a few bubbles. "What have you done? We're a tribe at war with itself! We need to work as one, not be separated!"

Twisting and stretching his right leg he tripped Ixchel over sending her backwards to the edge of the ledge, but she dug her feet deep into the ground. Undoing her arms she drew back trying to smack him in the face, but he anticipated that by grabbing them and pulling hard causing her to scream as her limbs reached its limits nearly breaking them. Seebik started pulling them in arch behind Ixchel, tie them to her legs and send her wheeling down the ledge. "Why do you resist Ixchel? It's clear by now that Ester has abandon her post as leader. Therefor I resume the title of chief!"

"You fool, she said she be back periodically! Helping a friend in need, is no reason for you to spread discord between our people. Call off this riot now or…"

"Or what, you're going to punish me? Only the tribe leader can pass judgment on member of the tribe's actions. She's not here!" Suddenly he was struck in the head by a boot driving his body into the dirt. His limbs retracted freeing Ixchel as her savior wrapped her elastic arms around Seebik twice, swinging him back and forth before tossing him into the air before he fell into the pit causing a mini explosion. The fighting all stopped as the looked up to see Ester with a furious expression on her face.

"I am very disappointed in all of you! We Kraahos are a tribe to one another. Warring with ourselves strips us of our unity and bond as an extend family!" she called out, trying to project confidence and anger. Inside her heart was pounding as she fought to keep calm. Staring at the crowd below made her dizzy, but she needed to remain focus. Leaders must always act confident to inspire their people, even when they weren't. Maybe she did have some self-confident issues after all.

Ignoring the questioning she stretched her left arm than smacked it into the earth getting everyone's attention. "I am trying to help a neighbor, a friend to us. By helping Ben Tennyson I'm helping all of us. We can be so much more, live greater lives, if you'll give him and the Plumbers a chance. I will never abandon you, but I must leave you for a few days or weeks at times to ensure this new alliance is secured. If you respect me enough to follow my lead, then I ask you to trust my judgment. Humans are not our enemy, my mother, Rosa, lived among you for years helping you to survive as my father, Calor, kept us alive and safe. As their daughter I pledge to bring a new era of peace and prosperity for us. Give me time to secure it. If you have any complaints I'll meet you in a few minutes to discuss them in private."

"First, I need to deal with this. Seebik, I trusted you to not cause trouble while I was gone. This is the second time you've gone against my wishes. I hereby sentences you to a month in solitary to think about your actions. If you cause anymore discord, the consequences will be serious. Dismissed!" Ester trembled nearly fainting, but Ixchel held her up. Looking at her cursed ring, she understood for the first time why Ixchel wanted her to confront her human half. She couldn't lead a tribe divided if she was also divided. Somehow she needed to overcome her issues and make peace with herself.

* * *

Ben was trying to run off some of his frustrations in the backyard. He had approached Flavia's room, prepared to ask her to spend the day with him, only to discover she had run off! When he wailed his concerns to his parents they assured him that girl probably just went for a walk and would be back. That didn't calm the transformed teen.

How could she just run off like that? Doesn't she realize how dangerous some of the aliens are? She's a human girl with no powers or training! Her independent streak could get her in real trouble he thought himself. As the day passed he could feel the hot sun bearing down on him. His fur was overheating so he rolled on his back exposing his chest. His scales soaked up the rays as the warmth spread across his body giving him a refuel of energy. His tail swung around lazily as his bird feet clawed the ground in delight.

"Glad that Eiar was kind enough to infuse water around my arms otherwise I be a rotting pile of flesh. Speaking of Eiar, I wonder where she is. I thought because I was her partner she guide me towards a solution. Alien girls, who knows how they think?"

He heard a giggle behind him. Craning his neck he saw that Flavia was jumping over the fence with ease. Watching her move with grace and power made him salivate until a small puddle formed near his mouth. Embarrassed he quickly stood up trying to swing his tail at her. "Where have you been all day? I was worried that something happened to you."

"Relax Ben, I'm fine. I just had to get out of the house for a while. See my old friends, find out if I had a job to do, normal things. Just because I'm your house guest doesn't mean my life is put on hold," Flavia informed him casually. Seeing all the dirt over him she laughed, "Want me to turn on the hose? I could give you a wash down. Maybe we could even have a water fight. That would be fun."

Ben didn't laugh or even give a cat grin. His pride was hurt by her comment. Did she really think he was animal who couldn't keep clean? "I'm not an animal though my looks say otherwise. In my normal form I'm a very handsome chick magnet."

Taken aback by his harsh tone, she responded in a sarcastic tone. "Heat in heretofore. I don't think you're an animal, I just was suggesting we have a little fun is all. You do know what fun is?"

"Fun? Fun is playing the latest Super Slammers videogame or riding around at high-speed in my car or doing tricks on my motorcycle. Fun is trying new flavors of Mr. Smoothy drinks. Being trapped in this body and being unable to keep an eye on you isn't fun."

Flavia raised an eyebrow upon hearing those words. "Why do you need to keep an eye on me? I'm perfectly capable of doing things on my own. Do you think I'm incapable of looking after myself? How many times do I have to tell you I'm not helpless!" she stormed off into the house with Ben hot on her heels. Going to the kitchen she took out a health shake taking a large gulp of it. Ignoring Ben she headed to her room, only to be cornered in the living room by Ben standing over her. "What? Are you trying to scare me?"

Ben growled a little, his eyes starting to change color, his tail lashed out embedding itself in the wall above her head. Flavia's eyes widened as her heart started to pound. She wanted to stand up to him, only her inner strength had left her. She cowered in fear under his gaze.

One froglike hand slid down next to her leaving a mucus trail. "I told you to stay away from Undertown. Without me there to protect you those crazy aliens could jump you. Some of them even like humans for dinner. You don't have the size or power to hold them off. If you used your brain you would have learned that lesson the first time you got mugged!"

Anger and frustration built up. Without thinking she shoved her entire weight into him. Off balance, his talons got stuck in the rug before he crashed over the couch breaking the coffee table in half. "I'm beginning to think it was mistake to stay with you. I heard nice things about you, but all you've done is bully me and treat me as if I piece of treasure for you to hide away. I will not put up with your selfishness, disrespect and consideration, and lastly, comments demeaning my intelligence. Good day Benbeast!" she shouted before storming into the guest room and locking the door.

The door opened revealing his parents. They took one look around the room. Carl was about to question what happened, when Ben stormed off to his room. The parents looked at one another. They wondered if perhaps they should intervene sooner than later, to preserve both this growing relationship and the house.

* * *

That night they tried to entice both teens to come out of their rooms for dinner. It was a healthy meal of mixed vegetables with sweet fruit juice and little side of turkey. It was one of the few meals that Ben would actually eat as it contained enough calories and minerals for his body to run. Sandra was happy about that because buying large amount of meat nearly left her broke for a week.

Carl knocked on Ben's door. "Come on Ben, it's time for dinner. You know your mother likes us to eat as a family." When he didn't get a response he knocked harder. "Ben, you come out of there right now or you're going to be grounded for two weeks!" The door opened to see a miserable teen beast looking at the floor.

"You think grounding is a good threat these days?" He asked sarcastically before shuffling down the hall to the kitchen table. When he got there, he blinked his eyes a few times. He was surprised to Flavia, wearing low cut jeans with an orange short sleeve shirt with a print on it. Her hair was brushed and pinned in a small bun on her head. Dinner had already been set on her plate as his mother cleared her throat as the two men sat down.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Sandra decided to break the tension. "So Flavia, how are you enjoying staying in our home? If there's anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable you just have to ask."

Flavia glanced over at Sandra before locking on Ben's eyes for a second. There was a challenge in her eyes as she refocused her attention on Sandra. "I thank you for the kindness Mrs. Tennyson. I appreciate you taking in a stranger because I need to be "protected"". Perhaps a day of shopping for clothes and accessories would be enjoyable for the two of us. That is, if Ben doesn't mind me leaving the house."

"Why wouldn't it be okay with me? You could leave anytime you wanted," he shot back. "Maybe you'll run into some of your old friends. I wonder if they wouldn't mind shopping with gang money."

"How I spend _my money_ is not your concern. You're mom's old clothes are nice, but I wouldn't want to over stay my welcome by continuing to accept hand me downs."

Both teens stabbed their dinner, eating angrily. Ben grabbed his glass so hard it broke in half. She offered him a napkin only for him to brush her arm away saying that he didn't want her to work like a servant in this house. To avoid a confrontation Carl interjected. "I was talking to my father today Ben and he had some news for you. You're grandma should be back on Earth by the day after tomorrow. She sounded excited like she had some good news. Why don't you go to Plumbers HQ to wait for her and visit your old friends?"

"That's a good idea Dad. Have you heard from Eiar? She's supposed to guide me and so far she's done a lousy job. I'm no closer to breaking this curse then I was month and half ago," Ben replied with a bit of anger. He had tried to contact her earlier, but Kad informed him that Ms. Dagurdottie was away for the day and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. "I wonder what could be so important that she abandon me."

"Ben, I'm sure she hasn't abandon you, remember this is her Rite of Passage. I expect this is not what she expected when she started out on this journey," Sandra explained gently. Recalling her own struggles as teen trying to navigate the world to adulthood had been difficult. Being an alien and trying to figure out how to handle the situation to help both herself and Ben, had to be really stressful. "I bet she just needed a day to collect her thoughts. I would wager a guess she'll be here tomorrow to check in on you."

"I bet your mother is right, after all the hostel is nice yet it can be prison for some," Flavia remarked finishing her dinner. She started to carry her dishes to the sink only to trip over a loose tile. Ben reacted instinctively using his jaws to catch her and pull her to her feet. It took him a few seconds to unfasten his teeth. "Sorry about the slobber. My mouth was faster then my hands. No harm no foul?"

"Eww, you ruined my shirt, its falling apart!" It was true. His teeth had ripped the collar and the back of the shirt. It was starting to fall off, threatening to show her cleavage. Quickly, Sandra snagged an apron and tied it around her to cover her breasts. Tears filled the girl's eyes. "Eiar was right, you are a beast. I can't believe I agreed to this. If I didn't have to stay I would run back home right now! I'm a prisoner in this house, cursed just like you!" She fled the kitchen with tears streaming down her face, running down the hall before slamming her door. Sobs could be heard coming down the hall. There were also sounds of items being thrown all over the place and what sounded like an alarm clock breaking.

Both parents glared at their son, who just crossed his arms and feet. "What? I didn't mean to ruin her shirt! If she feels like this is a prison maybe she should just go home! I don't need her, I'll find another way to break this curse. I wonder if Eiar would like it if I tried to eat her."

"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, I'm ashamed by your actions," Sandra said after slapping him in the face. "There is no excuse in the world that will make up for your poor manners and actions. That girl deserves your respect and kindness! I'm going to go calm her down. In the meantime, Carl, why don't you give our son a firm talking to?" Carl nodded, he was already dragging Ben to the garage to give his son a piece of his mind. Aliens be dammed, this was all Ben's fault, not theirs.

* * *

Once they were alone in the garage Carl sat his son down on a stool, ignoring his pointed looks about how uncomfortable the stool was. At least it was reinforced so it wouldn't break under the teen's weight. "What is the matter with you Ben? I thought you had the Beast side of you under control. What just happened shows it's not under control."

"It's not my fault, this stupid curse getting worse! Eiar is to blame for this! I wouldn't be regressing if she hadn't…"

Carl interrupted him, covering his mouth and pushing his son back down with the other. He tapped his foot angrily as he struggled to come up with the right words. "You can't blame others for your own actions, you need to take a little responsibility." He continued speaking over his son, who started to protest. "Yes, she cursed you and turned you into this beast, but she's taken responsibility for it. Since it happened, she has down everything to help you break this curse. She's learning about consequences to her actions. On the other hand, you haven't take responsibility for anything. That is not how we raised you Ben."

"Re…spon..sible! I'm the most responsible person in the world! I take care of both Earth and the rest of the universe. I'm a hero and a celebrity. How could I not be responsible?" Ben challenged.

Carl shook his head, not believing his son was oblivious to how he sounded and acted as of late. "Eiar was right about one thing son, you're incredibly arrogant." Ben hearing those words fell backwards off the stool crashing to the floor. He struggled to get up trying to understand why his dad had turned against him. "You're taking her side in this? How can you turn your back on me?"

His dad let out a frustrated sigh before giving his son a look that clearly read, "Shut up and listen really well." Gulping, Ben took his seat not saying a word. He was actually scrunching up the best he could as he got ready for his lecture.

"Son, I know that this is a difficult time, but you're making it harder by not accepting what others have told you. If you're in denial about the truth, then you'll never grow up and end up like this for life. Review your actions and words over the past few months. See yourself through another's eye. Tell me what you see?"

Ben closed his eyes and really thought hard. At first all he could see was his own versions, feeling large and in charge. The feeling of excitement and the thrill of fighting. As he was recalling his success against on his last mission, he felt his spirit separate he was able to watch himself from a distance. What he saw was not encouraging.

He was acting exactly like how others described. His own words were insulting and how he treated people was less than desirable. Sure he shone a few times, but his own over inflated ego and use of the Omnitrix proved what others had accused him off. Watching the curst be cast, he hung his head in shame. "I deserved what happened to me. I blamed others for my problems. Flavia's right, I kept her not because she was a victim, but I hoped that I could make her love me."

Carl patted Ben on the shoulder. "It's not too late to fix your mess. I've seen the way you look at Flavia. True you're overprotective, but underneath all that rage and passiveness, you care about her. If you make amends to one another you can start over." Ben smiled hoping that was the truth.

* * *

While this was going on Sandra was having a similar talk with Flavia. She apologized on her son's behalf before letting the girl let out some pent up frustrations. "This isn't what I thought life would be like. All his good traits, the fun loving and cute Ben are gone. I thought I could look past everything and see the boy inside, but maybe I'm just kidding myself. I can't stand how possessive he can be. He used to visit Undertown with no problems, dozens of humans do every day, so why is forbidding me to go back where I truly belong. It was a mistake to accept this invitation."

Sandra patted the bed and the pacing girl sat down. Flavia twirled her fingers watching the bend and stretch like a contortionist. The back of her new magenta top itched a little. The room had items strewn around the room, a dent in the wall from where she had hurtled the alarm clock. Even the curtains had tears in them. "I'm sorry about the mess. I promise to clean up."

"You can do that later, right now I want to know what you want to do next Ester. Stay here or go home." The teen girl eyes widen and she started to protest when Sandra placed a comforting hand on hers. "It's alright. I knew it was you from the first day. The way you carried yourself when you were preventing Looma from destroying our home is the same way you do as Flavia. From what Ben told me you're a hybrid so I knew there must be a human wanting to burst out. Besides, I saw you leave your room today as your normal self. Care to explain what's going on?"

Seeing she had no way out, she twisted the ring the otherwise repeating the phrase she wanted to be Kraaho. There was similar transformation sequence as she reverted to her normal form. She started shiver a bit so Sandra pulled some sweaters out of the closet putting them on her. She thanked her. Once she was comfortable she launched into the entire story. From Eiar search for a possible beauty, asking her to help and her guardian encouragements. How she accepted the cursed ring to help both her and Ben."

"That's noble of you, taking a risk to help a friend. In the original version a daughter took the place of her father because he brought back a rose from the enchanted garden. In the Beastly version the character Adrian while running around New York saved a man from some drug dealers asking in exchange for his daughter Liddy, to come live with him for her own protection."

"Did those girls struggle as well with personal issues and a moody boyfriend?"

"In a way the each had their problems. Like any teen romance you have to work hard to find the bond of love shared between you too. Both you and Ben are trying understand the parts of yourself hidden normally. I have a strong hunch that it will work out in the end, just give it time." Sandra got up to leave, as Ester grabbed her arm. "You're not going to tell anyone about this are you?"

"My dear your secret is safe with me. Only Eiar and I will know the truth. Now lay down and go to sleep. You've had a rough day." Sandra pulled the blankets over the girl giving her a gentle kiss. Smiling Ester started to drift off to sleep, quickly changing back to Flavia, before her dreams overcame her.

Outside both parents talked quietly about what had happened with their charges. Carl and Sandra felt for sure that they had gotten through to them. Hopefully, tomorrow would be a better day.


	5. Servant's Assistance

It was finally the day to share all the research between the groups. There had been delays along the way, mistranslations, avoiding arrest, even just back to the same solar system took a great deal of time, but finally everyone gathered in the conference room to discuss what they had discovered about the curses of Wiccman's and how to break them. In front of each participator was a data pile, paper or electronic.

Verdona smiled at Gwen. "I see you have been able to use your Anodite form in a creative way. I wouldn't have thought of using my natural form as a disguise." She playfully smiled and looked at Kevin, while still a bit of ruffian, even she had to admit he was easy on the eyes. He also was devoted to Gwen making him the perfect boyfriend/bodyguard for her favorite grandchild.

"Thanks Grandma, but I think we should focus on Ben. It wasn't easy to get these pages, but I managed to make copies with magic. When I started to translate, I discovered something strange. There appeared to be a hidden language mixed in the French words," Gwen explained. She took one page from her pile and gently placed it in the middle of the conference table. At first it appeared like a normal piece of paper. None of them, save Gwen, spoke or read French, so to them it looked normal.

She tapped a sentence on the page, drawing their eyes to a faint little star mark right before the beginning of the sentence. "See it reads, _Belle marcha dans le château, on a assisté à des serviteurs invisibles, bien qu'elle aspire à trouver le prix de ses rêves, se demandent où la bête a été son maintien prisonnier. _Now the normal translation would be talking about Belle being assisted by invisible servants as she wondered about the prince, but if you look closer, the little mark appears faintly above certain words. When I used my magic, I discovered a hidden language beneath, observe."

Raising her hand over the page she cast a spell that would reveal what was hidden beneath. The page glowed as new words in strange alphabet superimposed on the original words. With a flick of her hand all the pages floated up in numerical order and more hidden words appeared."

"A story within a story. Impressive Gwendolyn. Were you able to find a cipher to decode this language?" Rook asked. He had also been working on the pages, but with only a French dictionary, he had not come close to discovering this.

Gwen shook her head, the language wasn't based on any human language, not even a few dead ones she tried with magic spells. It also didn't resemble any of the runes in her spell book. "I tried searching through the Extranet, but couldn't find any matches. The closet I could come to was a language on artifacts on a planet deep in the Crab Nebula. The planet, referred by archeologist as Zexal, has been under excavation for nearly a decade now and they still barely understand anything they find."

* * *

"Zexal? I read about that in my Plumber Galactic History. It is said that the planet shows signs of an advance society, more advanced from current technology levels. I've seen pictures of light blue almost crystal like homes, with swirling colors of yellow and red throughout the first city they uncovered. There have been no remains discovered, just fragments of decayed DNA sources," Rook spoke up. He even had the book with him as he showed the images to his comrades. When you peered closely at resembled a giant half fallen apart temple, you could see the language on the walls.

"Hmm, I don't know why, but that image seems familiar to me. I think my source described it," Kevin mentioned. He brought up a holo disk of the interview he had with the person who had been cursed. The alien, a male Octicoid, was sitting talking to Kevin, throughout the entire interview he kept his eyes from wandering keeping eye contact with the teen. "According to Clearvis; he was cursed by a male Wiccman for his peeping habits on female residences in his neighborhood and local tourist. He said that the curse left him blind in all his eyes as punishment for daring to look at ambassador while she bathed."

Max tapped the table, recalling a similar story he read about a hunter who peeked on the Goddess of the Hunt, when she was being tended to by her hand maidens. Angered she blinded him before turning him into a deer for her hounds to hunt done. Again another story being used as a curse. "How exactly did he break the curse? Was there something physically blocking his eye sight?"

Kevin shook his head, nothing about the guy had shown there was a disease or a machine blocking his vision. It appeared, just like Ben, that something had altered Clearvis at the basic level and kept him there. "The way he described to me it was as if a flowing blue-white energy was enforcing the curse making sure it didn't break unless the specific circumstances were met."

"Which was probably to make amends to the people he peeped on and apologize for his actions right?" Gwen asked. Kevin nodded a bit explaining in full detail that after making amends he had to stare at the sun as it set restoring his sight. "Clearvis distinctly remember the feeling of the curse lifting as of the power reentered his journey mate, but there was a difference. The manna was restored, but he saw the blue energy twinkle and then be blown away across the solar winds."

* * *

Max looked at his ex as they had a silent conversation. Both knew that while manna was powerful, it took a lot of it to keep it working in the same way for months or years. The best way was to maintain some kind of contact with the project, but clearly the Wiccmans didn't do that. If they followed the solar winds they eventually ended up circling Zexal. Verdona was in deep thought as her ex-husband commented, "Why is it that all these curses is resemble fairy tales, fables, even myths?"

"I admit that is also puzzling to me. The stories are very close to versions I heard on my planet. Instead of peeping on a goddess bathing, it was the headsman daughter and she used a stone to blind him before sending the Muroids to eat him."

"I knew there were diversity and many adaptations, but isn't it unusual if the stories are alike on different planets throughout the galaxy?" Kevin asked.

"Not if the origin was the same one. That's what Asa meant!" Verdona snapped her fingers sending sparks all over the place. She created a floating model of the neighboring systems. She then created lines that connected back to Zexal. "Asa said stories were lessons that ring with truth. That all stories repeated themselves eventually coming home. All these planets have known incidences with Preservers activities. Notice anything?"

"The paths criss cross both over physical lengths and times. The encounters all report them coming and appearing from the Crab Nebula. If you match the times with first appearances of stories, no way, the Preservers are responsible for those stories!" Max said slapping his fist into his hand. It was the only logical conclusion to make based on the data.

"I see, the Preserver actions would have appeared as mythical circumstances that became legends. With so many overlaying, they must have repeated their actions often. Perhaps instead of dying out, they became part of their experiments until nothing was left of them except their ruins," Rook suggested. If that was true, then language was a way to keep in contact with the descendants of hidden Preservers. "That means the original story of Beauty and the Beast, must have been an oral tale passed down until it was written. Parts of the stories must have altered to fit properly in native culture."

"So the Wiccmans figured it out and found a way to connect with ancient technology. Their using some of the Preservers energy to keep their curses alive for long periods of time without recasting them. That explains the specific circumstances to release the curse, with manna and Preserver energy, only specific actions could break the connection," Gwen concluded. The group agreed and knew what it meant. In order to help Ben break the curse, his soul had to change so his energy would synch up and cancel out the mix holding the curse in place. If they were going to help, they need assist him doing activities or traits that weakened the bond.

* * *

While this was going on Eiar was having a long distance talk with her parents. Ever since she started the _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir, _she had felt a little lost. The screen was split in two because they weren't currently together. Reclining in her chair she expressed to them her feelings.

"When you told me that this Rite of Passage would be difficult, I wish you explained how difficult it truly was. It was easy to do the surveys and find my _Valið sveinspróf. _I even was able to pull off a double curse if you must know. I picked the perfect couple, so why isn't it working?"

"My precious _gimsteinn, _did you think you could force to people into a true love? Remember the lesson taught by Pax and Caron's actions? Only when a two people find harmony can love prevail over darkness," Rut reminded her daughter. Her mother was in formal robes of pink and orange and greatly resembled her daughter save for the eyes, hers were a bright yellow. She was calling from the Embassy on the planet Peawar, the planet chosen for the IPUN members to gather together for their meetings. She had been called to the planet, to help deal with a minor crises with two neighboring planets threatening war. It was her duty to help find a peaceful solution to the problem with her fellow ambassadors. She gave her daughter an encouraging smile. "I know it seems tough now, you just need to keep your eye on the goal."

Dagur nodded his head towards toward his wife. He was dressed in a tight fitting, but very flexible uniform made of a special mesh that could protect a person from common weapons, such as knifes and fist, but also be strong enough to hold off lasers or photon beams. "I remember my own _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir. _It was my first time off planet and I was very homesick. All I wanted to do is finish my journey fast so I could return home. I had chosen to go to Piscciss, to help a Piscciss Volann named Pyke." His daughter's eyebrows raised in surprise. Magister Pyke was one of the toughest and meanest Plumber when it came to rookies. She recalled hearing about Ben visiting the planet with Gwen and Kevin, but didn't know the particulars because it was a classified mission.

"You chose him for your partner? He couldn't have bitten you in two! How did you even survive on that planet? Did you live on a sub?"

Dagur laughed a bit manically before doubling over. Her questions were natural, but the way she expressed them was very funny. "No, not all the time. I would for a time swim in the ocean. On a few occasions when my helmet cracked a helpful Blowfish would act as my helmet. He was such a cute little fish. He was quite attached to me."

"Didn't you tell me he would try to sneak into the sub to be with you sometimes? Those little fishes are so kind to visitors. Visitors always intrigue them because they're so different then the natives," Rut interjected. She kept glancing behind her checking the time. The brief recess would be over soon than it was back to work. "What was the curse you gave him again? Something about being generous?"

Dagur nodded, then almost like it was a habit, reached behind his left shoulder patting something on the blade. Eiar knew underneath were a few scars caused by species claws. "This was before he left to join the Plumbers. Back then he was punk kid who liked to push around others. He was such a bully, even endangering the lives of several endangered species native to the area. He was going down the wrong path so I cast the generosity curse on him."

Eiar remembered that one. It was sort of wish granting curse that forced the person to help out anyone they came across, helping them fulfill their desires not matter what. She knew the dangers of that one. The compulsion to carry out these desires could lead to deep trouble. "He must have been angry with you. When did he scratch you like that?"

"After our second meeting. He thought he could bully me into breaking the curse."

Eiar listened attentively as her father recall the dangers he experienced as he tried to guide the future Plumber to a better path. He never gave up on him. Though Pyke continuously tried to attack him or his near death experiences he refused to give up. Eventually he figured out to get Pyke to let him guide him. His answers surprised her. "You really went one on one with him, dragging him onto your sub and beat the water out of him?"

Rut laughed, recalling this particular tale. "Almost all Wiccmans at one point or another beat some sense into their partner. It's not the civilized way, but sometimes you just need to fight it out so you can move on. I recall doing something similar with my partner when the time limit was almost up. Your father, had six months, I had two to complete my task."

Eiar was glad she had a whole year to work with Ben and Ester. Paying attention to her parents she learned Pyke broke his curse when he agreed to straighten up his act and help people, not bully them. That's what lead him to become a serious Plumber. Dagur had learned that it was difficult to help a person make the right choice, but the rewards were worth it. Her father's advice was just to take her time and find what worked with her. Once she had it, then she could help both her cursed chosen ones. They both were called away at that time. She said goodbye to them.

So if I'm to help break their curses, I need to find the right inspiration. Once I have that I can really get through to them, maybe even help resolve their issues. No matter what I won't give up she silently vowed.

* * *

It was the next day. Ben waited anxiously for Eiar to show up at his grandpa's shop. After hearing everything his friends had discovered yesterday, he was even more anxious to see Eiar. Finding love wasn't enough to break his curse. Looking at his tattoo he could see the petal crumbling even more. In less than two weeks his second month would be over; leaving him with only ten months to break the curse. Was it enough time?

Ben was so deep in thought, he didn't hear the bell above the door ring or the sound of footsteps approaching. When a hand touched his arm he let loose a roar as he jumped about six feet in the air. When he came back down he crashed into the counter breaking it in half. He reached for the Omnitrix, stopping when he realized who it was. "Don't scare me like that! I nearly had a heart attack I think."

Giving him an amused smile Eiar responded, "I don't think you can have a heart attack currently, but I could be wrong. Sorry about disappearing for a few days. I thought some time alone with Flavia was prudent. Besides, I wanted to update my family about how I'm faring with this experience." She looked around expectantly, wondering where Flavia was. "Speaking of her, I thought she would be with you."

Ben sighed folding his hands as he tried to get comfortable on a stool. "She's with my mom shopping for clothes and doing girl things today. Mom said they wouldn't be back until late tonight." Digging his feet into the linoleum, he continued to speak. "I messed up big time. I made her feel like a prisoner and really hurt her feelings. My dad finally set me straight."

The teen girl muttered under her breath in her native tongue that it was about time that Ben listened to someone for a change. She was just sorry that it took to hurting someone he cared about feelings to get the message through. It was time to move forward. "Alright, at least you're willing to change at this point. So come on we've got a lot to do."

Ben watched her heading for the door, but he retreated to the back of the store. It had taken him a lot of effort to get here without being seen, including using the Omnitrix to avoid being spotted. Silently cursing his recklessness, he started to edge towards the bathroom to get to Plumbers HQ when he felt something heavy attached to his foot. A ball and chain glowed into existence stopping him from moving.

"Why are you heading down? Our journey today is outside in the open. You need to get use to people seeing you like this. You've shown up in Undertown like this, so what's the problem?"

"Undertown is not Bellwood. Down there I at least have a chance of blending in. Up here, I don't know what would happen. They probably call Fish and Wildlife on me." He stared at the door afraid to go out in public. Eiar walked over placing a gentle hand on him, her aura wrapping around him, comforting him and easing her fears. Through her aura he could tell how frightened she's been going upside the first time, but had dealt with it just fine. If he wanted to break this curse he have to work with her.

A few minutes later they were walking side by side as they strolled towards the park. Many people gave them a wide berth, frightened by the sight of a beast walking in public. To everyone's surprise none of their phones were working because of an indigo electrical charge curtsey of Eiar. "I know you're scared, but don't bolt. You need show them that you're not dangerous and that you don't care how you look." Ben hissed he did care, carefully keeping the Omnitrix covered so the public didn't realize who he was. That made Eiar feel exasperated, but she didn't say anything.

Eventually they reached the park, found a bench and sat down. The teen created some birdseed feeding the pigeons. The transformed teen next to her opened his senses. He could smell the fear in the air and see their panic beginning to grow. The Beast inside was trying to take control. The hero shoved it back down refusing to have a blood bath on his hands. Wondering what the point of this was he asked his guide.

"Facing your fears, not letting them control you. The Beast inside would love to get out to create panic and chaos. In this situation, you need to dig down deep into your hidden humanity. Finding the part of you that won't allow anyone to be hurt." Using her manna she waved her hand over him, making him a bit disquieted by seeing his organs. As he looked down he saw something, like a spark flashing and moving wispily. Retracting the hand he was no longer able to see inside.

"Was that wisp part of my soul or the energy you connected with to enforce this curse?"

"It's a bit both. With the energies merged together like that the curse stays strong, to undo the bond you slowly have to let your soul grow stronger, brighter, the energy will weaken. But in order to that you have to earn it."

This was the part Ben was confused about. He asked what he else he needed to do, besides finding someone to love him. "Don't forget, love is something that grows, changes and strengthen over time. If you love Flavia, you have to show her that. Prove you can change by conquering your faults. Once that's done, you'll have earned her love and the curse should break if she feels the same way." Eiar warned him it wouldn't be easy, especially now when the two of them couldn't be in the same room. Ben knew that, but he was willing to try. If he could get outside without fear of his form then he could do this as well.

* * *

A few days later Flavia was sitting on the back porch, reading a book she had picked up. It was fun just sitting out in the open, not worrying about the temperature. She really enjoyed her lemonade and was tempted to join a gym to see what it felt like to swim for once. At last, she didn't have the time.

Looking up at the sky, she was thinking about the last few days. Ben had given her some space, when they were in the same reason, it was plenty awkward. Neither of them knew what to say to the other. Without him shadowing her so much she had been able to slip back home to help with the tribe, making sure that Seebik didn't stir up trouble while he was in his prison cell for a month.

Ixchel thought I did the right thing with Seebik and I have to agree my decision was the best for the situation. According to her, I've been doing a lot of good, but I'm not completely self-confident about my leadership skills, or, my where my heart lies. Lounging back in her chair soaking up the sunshine, she recalled in perfect detail how much her guardian chided her for not keeping her priorities straight. This was her one chance to understand her parents better. She had to experience what her mother went through and how father kept going after her death. Hiding away on the surface wasn't going to help anyone. She needed to actively shape her destiny.

"I never thought I see the day a Kraaho would simply enjoy the sun and not complain it's too cold," Eiar laughed, as she entered the backyard. She was carrying two Twisty Freeze large chocolate shakes. "You should try these, they're actually pretty tasty compared to the smoothies." Flavia took the drink and sipped it. She actually enjoyed the little tingle of cold that came with it. The more time she spent as human, the greater range of joys opened up for her.

"Thanks for the treat, but I have a feeling you didn't come here to share with me. What's up, I thought you be working with Ben. I've observed he still flitches when he goes outside."

Eiar was happy to hear that she was observing Ben. Her intention by leaving Flavia/Ester alone was for her to observe what it meant to be human while learning to read people. "Oh, I've spent the last few days with him. He's my main _Valið sveinspróf, _but you're my secondary and I won't neglect you either. Come on, let's go for a bike ride. I know that Ben's old bicycle is still stored in the garage. I'm sure his parents won't mind if you borrow it."

Twenty minutes later the girls were just starting down the biking trail in the forest. It was a twisty path with a few jumps, along with hills and rough terrain to conquer. The path ended near the parking lot. Eiar was surprised that Flavia even knew how to ride a bike. As they cycled next to each other she asked her about that.

"My dad taught me. He enjoyed biking with my mom, even if it meant wearing up to ten layers of clothes to do so. He was always pushing the limits of his body, adapting it to live on the surface, hoping to share my mother's world with her." Her eyes started to tear up as she faintly recalled being pulled by her mother's bike by one of those baby riders. It was one of the few things they did as a family. A bump jolted her back to reality as she steadied the bike. "Why are we riding bikes anyways?"

"Be patient, it will become clear at the end of the ride. Let's power pedal!" With a laugh the alien girl created a breeze with her manna zooming down the path with purple dust blowing behind her. Not one to lose to a challenge Flavia picked up the speed. Adjusting her seat and switching gears she raced after her friend. With a little effort she caught up giving her a flashing grin. "I'm winning this race."

"Are you? This isn't a race. By the way keep your eyes open for other riders. Wouldn't want to crash into them now would you?" Seeing a fast turn coming up she slowed down a little and leaned to the right before doing the opposite when the next turn came up. Riding down a straight path she saw a trio of bikers coming up. Signaling her intentions they moved over to let her pass. Eiar let out a laugh, it was just like being home.

Flavia saw the trio and was unsure what to do. She didn't know the signals, but nonetheless she attempted to pass. Seeing her way blocked she slowed down and moved back behind the group. One cyclist looked behind him and gave a hand signal. Observing closely, she figure out what he wanted. Speeding up she worked her way around and was able to pass. She had figure out a signal all on her own.

The ride continued as she caught up with Eiar, who was starting up a big hill. Flavia felt her heart beat fast in trepidation. She never climbed something that high. Eiar was making some adjustments to her solar bike by pressing some buttons, her tires change allowing her better traction. Ben's bike wasn't built for climbing dirt hills, still she could figure something out. Climbing up the hill she changed her gears and adjusted her speed until she got to the top. Again a feeling of trepidation filled her.

What if I can't control my descent? There's a lot of speed bumps up ahead that could cause me to crash if I not careful. How many miles do we have to go to get back to the start? Maybe I should just walk it down? Hearing the sounds of approaching bikes she moved over to give them room. Watching them all go down the hill made her a bit angry. Spotting Eiar further down the path waiting for her to catch up. Flavia realized it was time to gather her self-confidence and just do what she wanted.

There was a rush of air as she zoomed down the hill, keeping her speed under control, moving to the left or right when she had to. Reaching the bottom she hit the bumps jumping high into the air sticking the landings. Her confidence levels soared as she handled the rest of the trail with ease as they finally exited the forest. "That was a rush! I was scared at first, but then my confidence levels grew! It was great." Just as she finished speaking she felt the ring glow, spreading across her body for a few minutes before disappearing. Looking at the ring, then her arms, she wondered what had just happened.

Eiar parked her bike and leaned against it. "I thought that the ride would help you with your self-confidence issues. You observed others, trusting them to show you the way. When it came time for you to try it on your own, you didn't let fear rule you. Looking inside, you found the confidence, to do things on your own," she explained to the girl. Indicating the ring she continued, "The ring sensed the change inside of you, that you had overcome a trait that holding you back from accepting the beauty within. Now the curse is closer to breaking."

"Only four more, then I'll be able to truly say the words, I love you," she whispered to herself. Thinking about Ben, she realized that she needed to give him a second chance. If she could overcome one trait, then surely so he could to.

* * *

It was a three days until the end of the month and Ben was no closer to apologizing for his actions. Every time he tried to talk to Flavia, his throat constricted and ran away. He knew that Flavia was ready to talk to him, she had come to his door asking to talk, but he blew off. He just didn't know what to say or how to show he was sorry.

Currently Ben was in Grandpa Max's office looking up at the ceiling counting tiles over and over again. He was bored, anxious, and uneasy. Rook had tried to talk to him, but he had brushed him off. Max was busy dealing with a minor crises so Ben decided to wait in his office. "One hundred ninety nine, two hundred, two hundred two, and no I missed one, now I have to start all over again."

"I must say, I don't enjoy finding people down in the dumps, especially not my vibrant and funny grandson," a voice interrupted from behind him. Turning his head he saw his grandma enter the room in her human form. Snapping her fingers another chair materialized next to him as she settle down. "Your emotions are dragging you down Ben. All this despair is making me sad and you know how I don't like to be sad."

Ben grunted, "You're an Anodite, if being on Earth is so boring why don't you go home. You don't need to stay on Earth pretending to be a loving grandma. I'm not even sure why you're still here considering it's my problem and not _Gwen's." _

Verdona winced knowing she deserved that one. Over the past year she had done a lot of soul searching and realized, while she may be a free spirited person, she had a family who needed her to responsible and there for them if they need support and love. Loving someone wasn't a curse, it was a blessing. Something she had discovered over the past few years, especially when she thought Max was dead.

"I owe you an apology Ben. It's not easy for me to admit I've made mistakes," she admitted surprising him. "I realized how much my family meant to me when I heard you'd been cursed by a Wiccman. It was that kind of wakeup call that made me think about why the Exodus left in the first place."

"I thought you didn't agree with their ideals. You said they were too serious and their morals were silly," Ben pointed out. Verdona nodded before using her manna to create a family photo. Tracing their faces she told him that maybe caring about others and having a moral center was what kept those Exodus from losing their spirits. Straightening up her expression became serious. Taking one of his frog hands she cupped it. Her eyes sparkled expressing her desire to help him.

Without thinking about Ben told her what was bothering him. Using his hands and sometimes his talons, he told her about what had gone on this month. She didn't interrupt him once and patiently listened. Hearing him describe Flavia reminded her of when Max would complement her. It seemed that Ben really wanted to get to know Flavia better, but was stuck on how to do so when he couldn't even face her after the way he treated her.

"Eiar keeps telling me I have to face my fears head on, that I can't hide away because of what I look like. Flavia doesn't care about my looks and I like her for that. Still, I miss my human form badly. Stuck like this I don't know how to talk to her without getting her angry again."

The door opened again, with it came the whiff of something disgusting causing both of them to wrinkle their noses. Max had entered carrying his famous octopus with alien plant stew in. He'd been listening at the door, setting the pot down, he spoke to Ben. "If you can't talk to her about your feelings, try showing her how you feel. I always cooked up a special dish of Tentraman desert worms mixed with a sprinkle of eggplant, avocado and this tasty vegetable, frozen heart beet, to cheer her up. You liked that didn't you?" He asked his ex-wife who chuckled. Using her telekinesis she shoved the pot down the desk spilling it all over the floor before warping it away. Max looked her surprised. "I thought you enjoyed my cooking?"

"I did, but I don't think this is the time for a crazy ethnic dish when Ben's digestive system can't handle sea food." Max eyes widened as Ben laughed happy to get out of eating disgusting alien dish. He told his grandpa he appreciated the gesture, but he didn't think cooking would help him apologize to Flavia. He needed something that would show he was truly sorry. The problem was he didn't exactly know what would make her happy.

Thinking hard Verdona got an idea. "Ben, have you used the Anodite form yet?" Ben shook his head looking down at the Omnitrix. "I was saving it for a special occasion. Thought I rub it in Azmuth face that I had something he couldn't get. Gwen was supposed to help me practice in that form, but you know how it is. Why?"

"Because, I think you can use it to help show you're sorry and ask for another chance. By manipulating manna, Flavia can witness a spectacular show. Anodites have ways of connecting with people who are unique, such as having a mind link with someone you love." Max put a hand on her shoulder knowing what she meant. Still he was unsure about this plan. "Ben only has fifteen minutes and has never used the spark before. Even Gwen, who's had a lot more practice, hasn't mastered her abilities yet."

"I help him from a distance for one night. Who knows, maybe by using this form and latent powers from me might show up," Verdona replied with mischief. The thought was exciting and the thought of a new alien form perked him right up. He already had a name ready for his new form, Manna Master. He would need day or two to plan. On the last night of his second month, he would put on a show that would truly express how he felt about Flavia.

* * *

Two days later around ten pm Flavia wrapped her sweater jacket around her body, slightly shivering in the cool night. Even as a human, the outside temperatures affected her differently; especially at night. Earlier that day, Sandra told her Ben wanted to talk with her and to meet him in the old fairgrounds. His mother had hinted that he had a special surprise for her.

"I hope he gets here soon, I don't know how long I can stay outside this late. I wish that it wasn't the changing of the seasons. My body still is having trouble dealing with the outside temperature," she whispered to herself. Sitting down on the stage she wondered what was going to happen next. Looking at her new watch she started kicking her feet back and forth.

Meanwhile, Ben was behind one of the game stands, his grandmother floating in the air impatiently. "What's the delay? I thought you wanted to put on a show for her." Verdona had coached him for the past two days on how to handle the instincts and abilities of his new form. She would be in telepathic range to assist him if he needed. So why hadn't he transformed yet.

"Don't rush me Grandma please. I need to do this just right. I don't want to mess this up." Taking a deep breath to find his center. He stepped out from behind the game stand and walked towards a waiting Flavia. His pace was unsteady and his legs felt weak, his talons not gripping the soil properly. "Hi, thanks for meeting with me."

Flavia tilted her head a bit. She stopped kicking her legs, folding her hands. "Nice to see you again. Your mother said you had a surprise for me, something you couldn't give me at your house. So what is it?"

Clearing his throat, he grunted a few times before getting the words out. "I can't really say in words how I feel. I want to use a new transformation to show you. This form is dear to me because it's one of kind of my grandma's species."

A single eyebrow raised in an amusement. She knew that his grandmother was an alien, but couldn't recall which ones. Ben started twisting the dial until an image showed up. Carefully, with the right amount of pressure, he pressed down as a rush of energy filled him. This transformation was different then anything he experience before, his DNA was losing its structure as energy took its place inside specialize bio cells. His body turned Egyptian blue with prehensile cyan hair, his eyes glowed white-blue. The Omnitrix formed over his heart. "Manna Master! Whoa this is incredible! I feel so energized!"

Flavia laughed as she saw him shakily take to air zooming about. So he was a descendent of an Anodite just like Eiar. No wonder she had picked him. Watching him play she was certain that it was of his surprise to her, a way to apologize. He spun his hands creating twisters of blue energy. He encased a game stand then warped it into a small little café. He was having so much fun!

_"Ben, focus please. You only have a short time to show her how sorry you are and to ask for a do over! Now follow my lead!" _Verdona sharply said in his head. Her voice scared him that he started flashing in embarrassment. _"No, my dear let's start this show." _

"Okay just sit still, this is going to be amazing!" Manna Master promised the teen. Flying high in the sky he was met by his grandmother who waved at her. Flavia clapped her hands waiting for the show to begin. Flying through the air both Anodites started spelling out the words sorry and forgive lighting them up like Vegas Sign. Manna fireworks went off making her laugh in joy. Ben pointed to here and suddenly she was on a flying construct. Looking down she was in awe as Ben manipulated the life force causing several trees and shrubs come to life.

"This is pretty cool! I've never seen a show like this before," she whispered looking towards the hovering Anodites. "So you're truly sorry about how you treated me."

Ben nodded, creating a letter he floated to her. She took it and read it. His words came from the heart as the words circled her before entering her causing a mind link to start to form. Setting the letter down, she looked Ben in the eyes. "You didn't need to put on a show to earn my forgiveness, just taking responsibility for you behavior is enough for me. I have to apologize as well."

That stunned Ben not understanding why she was sorry. He had treated her poorly and kept her a prisoner. Even Verdona was confused until the girl confessed, she shouldn't have been so cross with him. He offered her help, instead of being grateful, she spit in his face. Instead of working out their problems they had let them grow.

"We've both made mistakes, but it's not too late to fix them. Ready to start over?" Flavia asked. Ben nodded, happy to be given another chance. He hoped this time they could find love if they tried.


	6. Beyond Imagination

It was the first morning of the third month into this curse. Ben had only nine months left to break his curse, subsequently, Ester had only ten to break hers. After last night's spectacular show, the teens had agreed to start over, only to end up wondering how they would do that. Going out on a real date sounded like rushing into this situation. Hang out and talk? That might work a little better. There was still a lot they didn't know about each other.

So they decided to do just that. Ben had wanted to play Super Slammers on his game player, but frog like hands weren't very good at holding the controller or pushing buttons. Instead, he decided to show Flavia his collection of memorabilia. So while Ben rummage through his closet, Flavia tried to find a clean place to sit. Seeing none, she decided to do some cleaning. With his back turned to her, she started to pick up trash from the floor, grimacing at how much there was. Ben's garbage can couldn't hold all of this, so she carried it to the kitchen disposing of it. While there she grabbed a box to hold some cleaning products. Reentering the bedroom, she saw Ben had stopped rummaging through his closet, his fur standing on ends as his tail twitched a bit. "What are you doing? I thought you wanted to see my collection."

"I do, but I can't find a single spot in your room to sit," she explained, placing the products on the only clear space on the dresser. Pulling on some gloves along with a mask and eye shield, she picked up the carpet cleaner, getting ready to spray. Ben fishy shoulders bumped hers. "What?"

"I like my room the way it is! I can find everything in it," he insisted. He pointed to the corners of room where there were two piles of clothes, one dirty and one clean. His video games were all over the TV and under his bed was his old soccer gear. Ben gave her his best lion smile, only to see her eyebrows raised in annoyance. "What, I like my room being messy."

"I don't, I'm tired of stepping into smoothie stains or tripping over fallen trophies. Have you noticed the smell in here? Your window is so dirty, I can't believe fungus hasn't started to grow!" Flavia wasn't a super neat freak or obsessed with cleaning. However she was brought up that you keep your personal space neat and tidy and put things back where they belong when done. Reaching into the box she pulled out another face mask. "If we work together, this mess will be clean in no time."

Rather then arguing, Ben decided to help. He'd been reminded enough lately that a relationship was hard work, full of compromise and forgiveness. That love grew stronger over time, if both members tried hard. "What do you want me to do first?"

"Start by sorting the clothes, fold and put away the clean clothes away. Then take the dirty pile and wash them. Don't forget to strip the bed so we can put clean bedding on. I'll use the carpet cleaner to remove the deep stains from the carpet. We'll go from there after that.

Sorting laundry was harder than it looked, especially if you had limited color vision. Using his nose he sniffed the piles to figure out which was which. Folding the clean ones was hard, but he soon got into a rhythm. His fish parts, the fins, helped him to open his drawers to put the clothes away. He strapped the hamper to his big back before heading to the laundry room. It was a bit tricky to get everything into the washer, but his other appendages helped him. Satisfied, he returned to his room.

Flavia was still doing to the carpet cleaning so he took to dusting his furniture and his belongings before placing them where they belonged. The sound of the vacuum set him shooting into the air where he stuck to the wall for a minute. Flavia laughed, turning the device off, "You should have seen your expression! I didn't realize that the vacuum cleaner actually startled animals."

"Ha ha, not funny. This is why I avoid cleaning," he landed on the floor with a thump. "Haven't you ever been scared of something before?"

"Yes, but not of the vacuum cleaner. My person fear was thunderstorms. The wind howling, the rain flooding around us. My mom used to hug me close and sing a lullaby to me." She looked away, treasuring the memory of her mother. If she closed her eyes, Rosa's sweet singing voice, echoed in her mind.

Ben smelled her happiness. He remember how much he loved being safe in his mother's arms, protecting him from the world and clowns. He wouldn't trade them for the world. "My dad and I, when I was small, would build model sailboats. We take them to the pond, spending hours watching them float. Did you do something like that with your dad?"

"My father and daughter days were few, he held an important job, so he couldn't spend time with me. Still, I remember him teaching me self-defense and helping me with some craft projects. When he smiled at me, I knew I was loved." Looking up at Ben, she coughed. "We should continue are conversation while we clean. Can you wash the walls after I've vacuum behind the furniture?" He nodded helping by moving he pieces.

While he was washing the wall, she was on a ladder, cleaning the ceiling vent out. They talked about their elementary experiences. He learned that Flavia loved purple, but her other favorite colors were red and yellow. She knew how to roller skate and was homeschooled. As they made the bed; Ben described an embarrassing in seventh grade, when he accidentally handed the wrong homework assignments to all his teachers in one day! He left at one point to switch out the laundry finding Flavia cleaning one window talking herself as if she was an announcer causing her to blush. They took turns with yes and no questions as they cleaned the TV and games system. Flavia said yes to smoothies and milkshakes and Ben said no, he never had a pet or wanted one. As they finished sorting the closet, there was a ding from the dryer. Getting the laundry, they put everything away then sat on the bed smiling. "Whoa, my room's never been this spotless. Maybe we should take a picture for my mom to prove it was like this."

"Yes, she can add it to her photo albums she's reorganizing. I saw some cute photos when you were a baby. That little bald head was adorable!"

"You're lucky I don't have any photos to blackmail you with! Thanks Flavia, I think I'll be cleaning a lot more these days." He let out a yawn exhausted by two and half hours of work. He snuggled on the bed as Flavia also curled up for a nap on opposite ends of the bed.

* * *

It was a few days later, Eiar had invited them to come over to help her with a project at the youth hostel. Kad was organizing a big project where the members of the hostel would help the locals with their business or makeover their homes. Many of the youths had volunteered because it was a chance to really see what other species were like. Occasionally two species that didn't get along, did get paired to help force relationships to work.

Eiar was busy in the courtyard helping at the assignment table, registering volunteers and assigning partners. "Okay Solaria and Icebox, you'll be helping out at the local recycling plant with the workers to reuse the materials. Try to get along please? The manager really needs to meet his quota this month," she said ripping them an assessment sheet, reminding them to get the manager signature after they completed their duty. She wished them luck, hopefully the Pyrite and Polar Manzardill could work well together.

She felt someone walk over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she saw Kad smiling. "You've done well child, never has the Youth Give Back event been so successful. I must know your secret in persuading our guest to help out in Undertown."

"I don't know, I guess I just have a way with words," Eiar responded, her manna colored dusts slipping through her feelings. She felt her aura flair as something tugged at the back of her head. Swiveling around, she let her dust shower her guests in confetti. "Hey, I'm so glad you guys could make it! How are you two doing?"

Ben shrugged, wearing another outfit his mom had sewn him. This one was for doing hard work in so there was plenty of extra give to move around, while making sure there was coverage for his more vulnerable body parts to prevent injury. Flavia was wearing a faded blue jeans, work boots and medium sleeved red t-shirt. "Sandra let me borrow some old work clothes from her gardening phase. So what do you need us to do?"

"It's actually what _we're_ going to do. I've signed us up for the garbage patrol. Our assignment is to help gather the trash, take it to the dump to be processed, then go clean up the new children's park that just opened a few weeks ago." Eiar had chosen this particular assignment because she was hoping that a little old fashion, admittedly disgusting work, would help Ben get rid of his arrogance.

Predictably, Ben looked upset and wanted to spit on the ground. It was bad enough being a delivery boy, this was way worse. He was about to protest, when Flavia touched his shoulder. "I know it's going to be tough, especially with your nose, but look at it this way, we're helping a lot of people out."

"Fine, but I'm not going to enjoy it," he grumbled. Eiar snatched their own assessment sheet, told Kad she was leaving, and they headed out to meet the local garbage man. It turned out to be a Gourmmand subspecies Perk named Dumbwaste, who was waiting around for them impatiently. "It's about time you kids got here! I've waiting for over an hour for a team to show up and who do they send; a human female, a Wiccman girl, and a beast! Well your sorry lot will have to do."

"Hey who are you calling a bemmmm!" Ben started to snap, only for Eiar to zip his lips tight. "Apologize for being late, Kad wanted to make sure the best team for this job was assigned. Here's our assessment sheet. You write notes on how well we did and then sign it to say we finished the job assigned to us. What would you have us do first?"

"Since you're late, I'm going to have divide you up. Human, your job is to collect all the garbage from this list. Make sure you get the right garbage and don't make a mess!" Flavia nodded scurry over to a small transport truck, with a worker to help her and to watch her. She cringed hoping that she didn't smell like garbage at the end of the day.

Seeing Flavia go, Dumbwaste ordered Eiar to head to the park with some of the workers, to make sure they truly had cleaned the park without damaging it. That left Ben at the dump helping Dumbwaste sort the trash. The Gourmmand owner wasted no time in putting Ben to work. "This trash isn't going to sort itself mister!"

"I don't get it, why don't you just eat it all? That's what you do!" Ben huffed.

Dumbwaste kicked him in the leg. "We can eat a majority of it, but we still have to sort the organic material from the trash. Then we have to put the trash in different piles to go different places. The organic stuff gets sent as fertilizer to alien farms on Earth. We clean up and resell some of the trash people who are looking for a quick fix can buy. We make sure to store some of it for later for different species. Our own food, is compacted and placed in the storage shed, for later."

Ben blinked, they had entered the main dump and it stank worse than a dead skunk on top of rotting fish. He had to work here for the next few hours? "There must be something else I can do. Do you know who I am?"

"Kid, I don't care if you're the Prince of Pattersonea, you still have to finish the task assigned to you. Now get to work!" Dumpwaste hollered before pushing him into a large pile of rotting fruit. "I'll be back to check on you in two hours. I want the ten piles around you sorted and processed by then!" He then slammed the door heading to his office to do the paperwork.

"Ten piles? Then I'm going to do this the easy way. Give me Upchuck Omnitrix!" he shouted as he prepared to slam down on the pad, but stopped an inch from the dial. He could just hear Eiar's words in his mind. She said he was an arrogant person that everyone was beneath him. If she found out he cheated she would be disappointed. No, he had to do this by himself.

When the girls got back two hours later, smelly and sweating, they got caught off guard to see Ben finishing up his duty. He had already properly arranged the piles, cleaned up the stuff for sale, and was putting the processed stuff in the storage. "This is the funniest thing I've ever seen. The great Ben Tennyson, actually doing hard labor and not complaining," Eiar remarked. "So I take it my words got through to you?"

Ben rolled his eyes then nodded. A bit of humbleness could go a long way. Hopefully the smell would come off after a few housing downs. At the moment Dumpwaste came out with the assessment sheet. After talking to his workers he wrote glowing reviews saying they all were perfect workers today. With the sheet in hand they started towards the hostel only to stop for a second. Ben's tattoo glowed before spreading a warmth over him. He was shocked, he had gotten over one bestial trait, with four more to go and his new relationship slowly getting better, by the end of the twelve months he be human again!

* * *

It was the first Friday of the month. Ben had taken Flavia to his Grandpa's old fishing spot. Flavia admitted that morning she didn't know how to swim properly. She could tread if she had to, but not much else. The water in the pond wasn't that deep and it cool so she wouldn't catch a cold.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I feel exposed in this outfit," Flavia told Ben. She was wearing a one piece with a light brown pattern on top of white, with a little brown skirt. Her instincts, both human and Kraaho, were telling her she needed to be covered up more.

"You like fine, don't worry so much. No one comes here except for my Grandpa. It will be fine," he assured her as they arrived at the pond. As he was looking for a place for their towels he heard a loud voice shout "Cannonball!" followed by a large wave of water splashing them both. "Okay, almost no one."

A light breeze blew over them drying them off. "Sorry about that, Kevin was just eager to swim," Gwen said, as she walked over. She had switched out her glasses for a pair of shades and wore a brand new bikini that had her Lucky Girl emblem. Ben was surprised to see his cousin and best friend here. Flavia tugged on his arm pointing up where Eiar was sitting on a cloud of manna dust holding her head in her hands. Seeing her partners she waved at them.

"What are you three doing here? Eiar, you said you had a previous engagement today. Who are these two?" Flavia gestured. When Ben introduced them, her eyes widen and her jaw dropped, she almost blurted out these weren't the same people she met, but she managed to keep her mouth shut. She couldn't blow her cover, not now. Instead, she kindly greeted the two of them, saying it was nice to meet them. Then she turned to ask Eiar what she was doing here.

"I thought I meeting Ben's support team was important. That I could learn a bit more about how Ben ticks and how it affects me on this journey. I'm learning a lesson too you know."

Gwen explained that she had a three day weekend from school and Kevin was using his vacation days to be here. Upon Eiar's suggestion they had come to the pond, not realizing it was a set up. Jumping off her manna dust cloud she landed with some grace, her heavy boots absorbing the impact so she didn't shatter her legs. Three months on Earth and her body was still adjusting to the planet's gravity.

"So, you came here to teach Flavia to swim? Then show us," Eiar gestured to the water, using her blue manna dust to create a safety net to rope off a section of the pond for swimming. Ignoring Kevin's smirk he strolled down to the water. Carefully getting in he gestured for her to step in. Flavia was nervous, she hesitantly placed one foot in the water, the cold zapped her and she stepped out.

"Don't worry, you'll adjust to the water. Just stand by me and I'll help you," Ben held out his hand. She took it and got in the water letting her body adjust. She reminded herself that it the same as heading topside, just give it a minute. Finally she ready.

"So the first step is to learn how to stroke. Raise your arms above your head, turn it a little, take a deep breath and go in the water," Ben lectured. He attempted to demonstrate, only his animal side took over. All except the scorpion tail were part of swimming animals, with different strokes. He was flopping around unable to properly move. Flavia laughed and squealed before slipping in the water. Quickly she swam back to the surface painting. "I thought you could teach me to swim!"

"I can't sputter help it. These body parts have minds of their own," he joked a bit stepping out of the water shaking his fur dry. "Maybe Gwen should teach you. I can't like this." Gwen nodded heading to the water along with Eiar, her clothes changing with a whim into body suit.

Settling under a tree, Ben still couldn't ignore Kevin's stares. He was enjoying this curse at his expense. "If you're going to insult me and call me names go ahead. It should make you feel better after all the times you turned into a monster."

"I could do that. Make your life miserable. Even poke fun or try to see how strong your body parts are, but I'm not. I think you've suffered enough," Kevin replied shocking Ben. He thought Kevin would make fun of him, instead he looked at him with empathy. "I know what you're going through. It's the worst when no one wants to look at you. The jeers, the torment, the Beast inside wanting to get out. If I hadn't met Kwarrel who knows what would have happened to me."

He looked away sadly for a minute. "Being turned into a monster a few times makes one appreciate being normal. I want to help you, like Kwarrel did for me. If there's a chance you end up staying like this, I can at least make sure you don't go on a rampage," he said holding out his hand. Ben shook it as the boys both turned to the girls swimming away. Right then everything seemed perfect.

* * *

Monday morning Eiar was relaxing in her room enjoying her book. Surprisingly, she still didn't have any roommates. She was starting to wonder if her grandmother had pulled strings to make sure she had a private room her whole time here on Earth. Finding a comfy spot she began to read again about her human side ancestors.

"Iceland is a wondrous land of both beauty and culture. Some of the most tasteful seafood to eat are found in this country. Halibut, sturgeon, and cod are a regular favorites to be consumed. Other favorites include cooked lamb, puffin eggs, and recently, chicken. Coffee is the national drink of Iceland with cafes all around the capital," she read out loud. Closing her eyes she could just picture herself out near the glaciers, the winds blowing and the sound of nature in her ears. "I wish I could visit my ancestral home, but Ben and Ester need my help more. I better go check on them."

As she left the room, she was unaware that she had been watched from the mirror by Ester. Ester had tried to get in touch with her via the magic mirror. Hearing Eiar's wish, she wondered if there was something they could do.

A few minutes later, as Flavia, she entered the kitchen to enjoy a breakfast with the Tennyson's. Sitting at the table was Sandra and Carl, but not Ben. "Good morning Mrs. Tennyson, Mr. Tennyson. Where's Ben this morning?" she asked settling down. Today she was wearing a beautiful yellow t-shirt with a brown earthen tones, and capris with red and bright green threads forming a twisted pattern at the cuffs. Being able to wear normal clothes was a blessing.

"Please call me Sandra. Ben had to go for a run, too much energy pent up. I'm positive he'll be back and smelling like wet dog while covered in mud. Carl, is the hose ready?" Her husband nodded, gesturing to the pet items on the counter. It was humiliating, but the animal care products were the only things to properly cleaned Ben up.

"I was thinking that maybe Ben and I could do something nice together for Eiar. I understand there is a mix feeling about her, but I know that she's changed his life, (and mine as well), so maybe doing something for her, will help get rid of the selfishness trait."

As the parents thought it over there was some yelling and screams from the neighbors. Looks like Ben was home. Carl went outside to help his son get clean while Sandra and Flavia talked about what could be a nice thing to give to Eiar. When Ben came in clean and dry, he entered the conversation.

"I don't know, are you sure that's what she wants? Why would she want to go on vacation when she's supposed to be, you know, helping me undo this curse?" he asked. They were now at the computer looking up information on a travel site.

"Because this helps both of you? You do something unselfish and she's gets to go somewhere on Earth she's only read about. Besides, I happen to recall you saying you had a free trip for two to the country as thank you for getting rid of the Incursions." Ben grumbled a yes. He had saved that trip to take Flavia on a nice vacation when he got human again.

"If you're really sure, then I guess we should do it." Ben. He really didn't want to give this trip up, but deep inside he knew that not giving it to her would be the most selfish thing in the world.

When Eiar arrived to check in on them, she got a shock of her life. There was big banner and some balloons with pictures of puffins and glacier. The banner read in Icelandic "Have a nice trip". Blinking her eyes she looked at her two charges with surprise. "What's all this for? Who's going on a trip?"

"You are, when ever you want," Ben admitted handing her a small packet. Opening it she saw tickets and a travel plan. "No way, an all-expense paid trip to Iceland anytime of this year! I love it, thank you, but…"

"No buts," Flavia insisted. "We all know that Ben is going to beat this curse and earn his "beauty's" love very soon. In a couple of months you'll be enjoying a wonderful trip. It was Ben's trip, but he decided to give it to you."

"Oh Ben, I can't express my joy enough," she cried hugging him tightly. Ben shared the embrace. As Flavia looked on she saw the tattoo again glow as a warmth spread throughout his body. He defeated the trait of selfishness! Two down and three to go for him, four for her.

* * *

It was about a week and half later before Flavia found an opportunity to try to undo her second trait, hiding a talent that needed to be shared. The Undertown Founder Day Celebration was coming up. It was a big festival, with lots of games, food and entertainment. There was even a talent show where anyone could stand up on stage to perform.

She decided to bring it up when Ben took her to Plumber's HQ to meet his partner and grandpa. Max was very happy to meet her and offered her an alien dish, but she declined. Rook was a little suspicious of her because of her manners, but she was able to deflect his attention when she brought up the celebration.

"It's one the biggest parties Undertown throws. I've only been to one and I really didn't get to enjoy it much. I had other things on my mind at the time," Flavia told him. She didn't mention the previous year Seebik had her steal stuff from the celebration to make the Hot Spot more tolerable before they drilled the lava pools. "I loved watching the talent show, but I didn't have the courage to stand up on stage."

"I have read about the celebration on the Undertown website. I am interested to see what kind of activities I could participate in them. Perhaps they will be selling parts I could use to upgrade my truck," Rook told them looking excited. Ben and Flavia looked at him with a confused expression. "What, I thought this was a group outing."

"No offence Rook, but I think Flavia was indicating she wanted to be alone with me, you know a date?" Ben explained as he slowly moved his hand towards her, she took it clasping it tightly. With a small grin he looked at her, feeling his heart rate go up, causing pain in chest. He had to calm down and slow his heart rate before his body shut down. "That is what you want right?"

Flavia giggled, brushing a strand of hair behind her head. She could sense everyone in the room from the Galvin to the Alpha Squad waiting for her to respond. Didn't these people have other things to do beside listen to her private conversation?! "Um, yes I'm hoping we can make this work. I think…no I believe that we're ready to try a date."

"Then I'm all for it." Ben looked at the Omnitrix wondering if he should use it to avoid causing a problem at the celebration. Fifteen minutes wasn't a lot, but if he times it just right, then he could watch Flavia on stage without having to hide. "What's your talent?" She pressed a finger to his mouth telling him he would learn when everyone else did.

* * *

Four days later Ben found himself caught up in the festivities as Undertown transformed from a city in old sewers, to a magnificent festival. The metal walls had changing paint colors causing the children to laugh in joy. Plants and decorations from all over the known galaxy covered the business and buildings. Music was heard from different points in town. Street performers put on shows as aliens purchased items to help support the, "Repair Undertown Fund."

Ben cringed at the poster describing what the fund was and why it was this year's cause. "Come on, I can't be responsible for every destroyed building, now can I?" he asked his date. She shrugged her shoulders. "It's for a good cause. Come on, there's some rides we can go on before the talent show later."

She dragged him through the crowd, keeping an eye out for Ixchel. She was going to meet up with her at some point to get an update on Seebik's release. Also she planned to visit her people tonight bringing stuff from the celebration. On a previous visit she had instructed her people to go enjoy the festivities though she was unsure how many would attend.

The two of them had a great time. They jumped in the bouncy house going in all directions. An alien version of silly silo (ride where you stick to the wall by force and the floor drops beneath you) was super fun when a person rode it upside down. Ben really enjoyed the hovering bumper cards smacking into her car sending it spinning.

After they finished the rides, they went through the stalls, buying some t-shirts and memorabilia. Flavia insisted on getting a caricature painting from a living art alien. The artist managed to make Ben's beastly form look funny with Flavia's beauty morphed a bit to look more alien. After a while they found a place with semi human food including smoothies and milkshakes. Ben had three smoothies while Flavia had one smoothie and one milkshake. Finally it was time for the evening performance.

* * *

The talent portion of the show would be in the middle of the program. Flavia would have loved to watch the first part, The Amazing Animal Show, but she spotted Ixchel waiting for her by the stage. Making an excuse about needing to prepare behind stage, she got away from Ben. Once in the shadows she started turning the ring, "I want to be Kraaho, I want to be Kraaho, I want to be Kraaho," she whispered returning to normal. Ixchel saw the girl shivering in her dress, so she quickly passed Ester her normal clothes. "Thanks, I forgot the sudden change always messes with my body temp."

"No trouble child. I was watching you before, it seems you're actually enjoying a date with Ben for the first time," Ixchel replied. Listening to Ester go on about how attentive he was being, plus finally noticing her signals, made her heart swell. If only Calor and Rosa could see their daughter now. "Down to business, Seebik was released from his month of confinement earlier today. On the surface it seems he's repented, though I don't know how real it is."

Ester nodded in agreement. Seebik had been discontent for months now, unhappy about having to live in one spot. He still challenged her on several issues of the tribe, including having the Kraaho start mixing with other species on celebrations such as this. She inquired how many people were attending the event. Hearing the number she was surprised. "Ninety percent of the tribe has come here? I didn't see any of them."

"Their mostly hanging on the fringes of the celebration. When I informed them about your performance tonight, they all agreed to attend. Looking at the audience they're already here." Gulping Ester turned around, her body going stiff as she spotted most of her tribe seated all over the audience. Some were sitting behind Ben whispering to one another about what talent their leader would be debuting. "I'm going to be sick."

Ixchel caught her before she could double over. The elder Kraaho said that Ester wasn't allowed to back out of this. Reminding her leader how important this performance was on different levels, she convinced Ester to climb the stairs to the back stage. "I'll be right here watching you. If it gets too much, I'll close the curtain. Pretend that you're only performing for one person." Both of them heard the end of the animal show and knew that it was time for that talent portion. Ester had signed up to go third. Mentally she began to prepare, going over the words again in her mind. Finally it was her turn, a quick change, and Flavia stepped out on stage.

The audience all stared at her, waiting to see what she would do. Her gaze fell on her people causing her to swallow hard. Then she saw Ben trying to stay still, waiting to see her perform. Taking a deep breath she spoke into her mike. "Hello Undertown. My name is Flavia Tintino. Tonight's my first performance. Someone close to me, told me talents shouldn't be hidden, so I decided to share my voice with all of you tonight. I will be singing a song dear to my heart, written by a wonderful human singer; "Who I Am by Natasha Bedingfield." There was a click as the background music started to play. Hearing her cue she started to sing.

"_I know I can reach the top of the world. Be all I am i'd be so beautiful  
if only... I could be brave and I could be strong. I would know where I belong  
if only_

_I wanna feel free to be who I am, what I'm about is more than I've been.  
Ready to show the world who I am. Stop letting out or I won't lean in and find my own place to stand._

___ I could be who I am, oh yeah._

_I have it inside, I know that I do. All that I am, is gonna breakthrough  
I could believe, in it right now. Take the time to work it out  
if only.. I wanna feel free to be who I am, what I'm about is more than I've been._

_To find my own place to stand. So I could be who I am yeaay.  
I'm closer to what I've meant to be for trying and to know that I can get there.  
I'm not gonna stop coz I believe that it's so much more... to me yea..._

_I wanna feel free to be who I am, what I'm about is more than I've been  
ready to show the world who I am. Stop letting out or I won't lean in  
find my own place to stand. So I could be who I am." _

The audience all erupted in cheers. Looking around it was an overwhelming feeling to know that she had finally shared a gift with the world. A warmth spread across her body, telling her that she had overcome a trait that held her back, now she was at peace.

* * *

Later that night Ester returned to the Hot Spot with her people. With Sandra and Eiar's help, Ester was able to spend the rest of the weekend with her people. It was amazing how well most of her people were now accepting her uniqueness. After that stellar performance Ester was walking on lava, literally! "I can't believe I did that. It was the greatest feeling in the world!" she laughed, still looking at her trophy. She had won first place in the talent show.

"I'm so proud of you! I loved hearing you sing out load again. It reminded me of your mother and how much pleasure she derived from teaching vocal to us. If she could have heard you, I know she would have been really proud," Ixchel told her as they headed to Ester's private quarters. They were almost there when they were stopped by Seebik and two Elders.

Ester, on the inside was nervous, but outside she was the perfect picture of confidence. "Seebik, I'm happy to see you. I hope that your time alone has helped you realize that previous actions were detrimental to community. Elders' Noak and Kaliska. It's an honor to see you both." She bowed her head with folded hands close to her body. "As leader of the Kraaho I accept your wisdom to guide me. What have I done to warrant this visit?"

Elder Noak was about speak first, but Kaliska beat him to the punch. "I wanted to tell you I've heard from many tribe members their experience at the Undertown Founders Day Celebration, especially about your surprised performance. Hearing about how wonderful it was and how happy the tribe is, I'm here to congratulate you. Your idea for integration today was remarkable."

The male elder had to agree. Ester had surprised them greatly. She was finally on her way to becoming a great leader like her father. Though there was a few things to work out yet. "Miss Setna, I must remind you that no matter what is going with the rest of your life, you need to be more active within the tribe. I insist you make your visits more frequent. How far along are you with this alliance you're trying to make?"

Ester flushed misheard him thinking he said romance, not alliance. Getting a hold of herself she replied. "Much closer Elder. I have completed two steps and I only have three to go. I promise by the end of three months from now, everything will be settled." The Elders nodded before returning to the homes. Seebik was force to let Ester and her guardian pass.

He was livid on the inside. He'd hoped that he persuaded the Elders Ester wasn't a proper leader. They had agreed with him until the tribe started returning and public opinion changed their minds. No, he couldn't count on the Elders support. He would have to proceed faster if he was to pull of his coup and get rid of his two enemies in one final swoop.


	7. Time Draws Short

It was two days since the concert and Ben was at Mr. Smoothies enjoying a new flavor, Wild Animal Berry Mix, while he waited for Flavia to show up. When he woke up this morning, her found her bed not slept in. He had sniffed the bed and found a stale scent. She hadn't been back in two days. He knew she had gone to do something after the concert, but he had spent the day after at Plumbers HQ subjected to medical tests to see how his body was holding up. Assuming she had been asleep when he'd gotten home he crashed hoping to see her in the morning. Confirming she wasn't there, he started to panic before his mother gave him a note saying she would meet him at Mr. Smoothies at eleven.

As he drank his third smoothie he tried to ignore the stares from the other customers, many kept a wide berth from him. He heard kids whispering about him, wondering if he was an escaped science project or an alien who didn't know the rules about being on Earth yet. If he thought about it hard it was a surprise that animal control or the zoo hadn't been called to pick him up. "Maybe Grandpa and Grandma warned the town if they hurt me, they would suffer their wraith." He saw his warped reflection on the metal umbrella pole. A wave of sadness washed over him as his eyes flashed from green to gold.

**Why do you continue to resist what you really are? There is no hope for you. Flavia may care about you, but she'll never love you. Our, no **_**my place**_**, is in the wild. I shall enjoy the terror and destruction I'll bring. **

Knock it off and get back in my subconscious! I'll never let you win Beast! This is my body not _yours!_ I can overcome three traits and prove I earned Flavia's love! The Beast chuckled, but went back to subconscious. He had to wonder how long he could keep his mind before the Beast took over.

Taking a deep breath, he counted to ten before taking another look at his reflection. "I'm not a beast, I'm human. I am human!" he whispered. Suddenly his fish arms sensed a familiar electric current. He barely contained his excitement. Turning he started to wave, "Flavia over here!" he shouted. She was a thing of a beauty in a, orange, yellow and pink shirt, with a pleated skirt in the same material. Her pink knee socks and matching purple high tops complimented her dark pink tote bag and her pink felt hat with a black ribbon with a purple jewel flower pin.

"Sorry, I'm late I lost track of time. Hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," Flavia stated sitting down across from Ben earning some looks. She ignored them. "I spent some time with old friends. I missed them a lot."

"Maybe I could meet them sometime? All of us hanging out with Eiar would be fun."

She bit her lip as she tried to come up with an excuse of why that couldn't bring him to meet her friends. "There extremely shy and they don't like Plumbers. They're always busting them for minor infractions. Maybe next time Ben." He was about to argue the point when he felt a sharp pain in stomach. He grabbed his stomach only to arch his back. His feet started to itch badly as his talons dug through the concrete. Mucus mixed with poison flung was flung all over the place as his arms contracted in pain. He kept trying to bite his mane off.

"Ben, calm down! What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Flavia yelled over the screams of everyone running for their lives. She approached slowly trying to get close when a bright green glow caused her to stumble back. On the ground was Ripjaws gasping for breath. "Ben! Change back!"

"I'm trying ahhhhh!" another flash and he was Wildvine. His plant roots duck into the ground as seed bombs went off as rolled onto his back. Another flash of green and he was so tiny. If she didn't hear the little buzz of Nanomech she think he was gone. Suddenly he transformed again into Heat Blast. One touch caused him to melt the table and the one next to it. "I can't….control…. it… ah! Something's wrong…I shouldn't be able to do this! Ah!" He transformed again scratching her badly with Wildmutt's claws. He whined sorry, but he could sense her body heat growing. She was growing scared of him.

Trying to hold it together Flavia called out with mind screaming for help to come fast. Her thoughts enter the manna field causing both Verdona and Eiar to vanish/fly towards them. The Plumbers were right on their heels. Verdona arrived first, shocked by the sight of her grandson half beast and half Bullfrag. "My goodness, what is going on?"

There was a flapping sound as gold dust fell from the sky. Eiar had arrived having created butterfly wings using gold dust! She circled twice around trying to get a better look. Her mindlink was buzzing so loud it was nearly impossible to think. Her eyes focused on the Omnitrix, it was going crazy, somehow the randomizer feature had switched on, but that should be impossible! Seeing his tattoo she looked alarmed as it flashed and started to change. "We need to get him back to Plumbers HQ! If I knock him out, can you carry him there?"

Verdona nodded, already she was using her powers to separate the couple, while preventing more damage from occurring. Eiar hovered over him, her aura growing with power, as she unleashed a mix of gold and pink dust all over him. Ben, who was in his beast form, for a second. The millisecond the dust touched him Ben fell into a deep sleep. The Plumbers arrived just then as they sorted the situation trying to figure out what to do.

* * *

Ben felt himself sinking further and further down. His hearing was going, snatching words from different conversations; curse, Omnitrix, time," His sense of touch was very vague. He felt a distant poke and someone touching his body with instruments. It meant nothing to him just as the small of a hospital was not registering properly with him.

He opened his eyes finding himself floating over half of Bellwood. The other side was a combination of wild terrain from all over the universe with ruins in it. The Beast was sitting on his own throne smirking. "**Looks like you've learned your place human. You don't belong in that world anymore, even if you do look like one of them." **Hearing those words Ben looked down and saw his true reflection for the first time in months. Touching his face slowly he whispered, "I'm me, I'm really me."

**"Only in this mindscape, you can choose your form. I don't blame you for clinging on to a false perception of yourself. Especially since you're dying." **

"What are you talking about? My family and friends would never let that happen!"

**"Not physical death, but mentally you human half is losing. The curse has a pleasant side effect for me. Your time is almost up Ben Tennyson. When I'm in charge even people like Vilgax will tremble beneath me. Who knows, I might even take that two timing Flavia girl as a mate."**

"Stay away from Flavia! Stay away from everyone! I won't let you win! I don't know how, but I have two weeks and eight months to beat this curse!" Ben challenged him only for the Beast to laugh at him. "What's so funny?"

**"You'll see if you ever wake up. I'd make your choice here and now. Die or get back to living with what little time you have left!" **

Hearing those words Ben looked at his Omnitrix. He saw a picture of himself lying in a hospital bed, looking dead. Pressing the button a green flash of light covered him as he felt his conscious snap back into place. A second later he was sitting up in his bed howling as struggled to get out restraints. His tail ripped free as he flicked it around trying to impale something.

"Ben, calm down! You're okay! Ben, it's safe here! Calm down!" His grandpa yelled holding him down. Verdona appeared on his left side using a gentle wave of manna to get his life force to steady. "It will be okay kiddo. Everything's fine."

After calming down, Ben looked at his frog hands once again in place. He saw all the machines around the room and cots where people took turns keeping an eye on him. Across from his bed there was a rolling table filled with different tools and several notes next to a portable computer. "What happened? How long have I been here?" he managed to croak. Grandpa gave him some water. Just then Rook, Flavia, and Eiar entered the room.

"How are you feeling Ben? I brought you the customary flowers when a friend is sick. Do you like them?" Rook asked, thrusting the bouquet towards him only for Ben to sneeze the petals off. "It was a kind gesture."

Flavia sat down next to him holding his right hand. "You gave everyone a scare. We couldn't figure out why you kept changing, then Eiar's dust made you fall in a coma. These have been the scariest two weeks of my life."

"Two weeks?" he whispered incredibly. He tried to look at Eiar, but his head dropped. That's when he notice the inactive Omnitrix. That was a good thing, twisting his other wrist he became startled. His rose tattoo was dark and withering. Almost all the petals were gone leaving just one left. "I'm going to ask this one more time. What happened?"

"I blame myself a bit. I should have taken the Omnitrix into more consideration when I cast the curse. All I thought was I had to keep you from using it often enough to avoid facing your beast form. Even my Grandma was certain that her actions didn't cause any problems," Eiar whispered looking down at her boots. Surprisingly, she had removed her coat and gloves, her arms and hands covered with burns. Something had happened while he was in a coma.

"It's not your fault child. If Azmuth had been honest up front, we would have known about the possible danger," Verdona said comforting the girl in a warm embrace. Ben looked at his Grandpa who sighed before explaining.

"You know that Azmuth put safety features in to prevent the user from being taken over right? He also placed limits on the DNA, having it match the gender, protection against disease, and lastly age." Ben nodded he remembered all that. He shuddered as he recalled what the Beast said. "Something about the age and time went wrong?"

Eiar nodded. "Azmuth's prepared for all sorts of situation that could damage the user and the Omnitrix itself. He never fixed the problem when it came to preventing from overexposure to different DNA ages on the user, especially if the user decided not to use the device for long periods of time," Seeing Ben's confusion she explained. "You were changing at different rates. Every alien you've been and some you haven't. We could figure a way to deactivate it so, Sentora Verdona and my Grandmother Asa managed to persuade Azmuth to come here."

Flavia whispered that they had really kidnapped the little guy and threaten to revert all Galvins' to tadpole stage forever if he didn't come to Earth to fix the problem. That made Ben laugh. "Yes, once he got here, he studied his device finding a tiny flaw in the DNA storage and recombination injector that allows the change to happen. When selected the correct computer file changes into DNA that injected into your body transforming it for a time. During this time the injector is supposed to retract back in so it don't accidentally leave micro traces of alien DNA once the change is complete. Somehow in the creation process the injector became slightly out of alignment allowing DNA to mix more often."

"When she cursed you and her people changed the settings on the Omnitrix that caused the injector at random times to pierce your skin and leave behind different DNA. Because of length between transformations you had more time to overexposure," Verdona explained to him.

"But it's fixed now, so everything fine right?" They all shook their heads.

"Azmuth was unable to fully reverse the exposure. In a sense your transformations were seen as growth cycles, which sped up the curse clock. We've tried everything to give you back the time, but we can't do anything. Instead of eight months you only have until the end of this month to break the curse, otherwise the Beast wins," Eiar told him sorrowfully, not looking at Ben as his hope crashed right in front of him.

As his grandparents and partner gave him some much needed support, Flavia grunted gesturing towards the door. Eiar nodded following her out. They needed to find some privacy to talk, but the HQ had cameras everywhere, even supply closets! With frustration growing Eiar's aura grew in intensity until she released a huge amount of green dust creating a room inside the base around the two girls. A passing Hobble actually bumped right into it. He tried to figure out how to enter, but there was no door. Thinking it was something the Galvin duo was working on he left in a hurry.

* * *

Inside the room Flavia reverted to Ester, she took off the ring, placing it in Eiar's hands to exam. "Has my time sped up as well? What is the state of the curse at this moment? If Ben can't beat his curse, where does that leave me?"

"Honestly, I'm not exactly sure. I tied the two curses together when I cursed the ring. As long as you wear it the curse affects you," Eiar said before Ester interrupted her. "You said if I didn't break the curse the form I was in would be my forever form. What if I'm human forever and the Kraaho don't accept me?"

"You could be stuck as full-fledged Kraaho, but that would defeat the purpose of this curse. I talked with my grandmother, she and the Planetary Council have been reviewing law and history, trying to see if something similar has happened," Eiar admitted her formerly cocky and determined nature was gone. It had been replaced by uncertainty and helplessness. It was becoming abundantly clear now why the _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir _was the most challenging part of growing up. In order for the quester to succeed, they had to be prepared for any possibility that could affect their _Valið sveinspróf. _ Eiar realized how important it was for her to face real consequences of her actions, even with the best of intentions, something terrible could happen.

"I promise you Ester, no matter what happens, I'll make sure your curse is broken. No matter if you have nine months or one, my people will find a way to undo this so that you can lead your people," the Wiccman girl swore, making the sign of a promise, creating a circle with a line dividing a half human half Anodite face, showing how serious she was.

"Ben needs you more, let your grandma figure out my curse. I chose to accept this curse knowing the dangers, I will follow through with it no matter what." Eiar nodded, she was obstinate to solve both problems.

The following days blurred together. Ben was struggling to keep his humanity intact as the Beast's control happened more frequently. Each time it harder for Ben to come back. The whole family was working together to keep Ben's hopes up, reminding him there was still time, no matter how little there was. The teen superhero was strong-willed trying different ideas of how to prove he was no longer disrespectful and inconsiderate, brainless, and vain. Nothing he tried worked as Eiar pointed out the Preserver energy powering her manna had to truly feel the change in his soul to consider the trait conquered.

While this was going on Flavia/Ester was torn between her duty to help Ben and the responsibility to her people. A good portion of the people were starting to venture out into Undertown making friends only for unfortunate "accidents" sending them scurrying back to the Hotspot. Flavia/Ester was certain that these accidents were to discredit her law. Ixchel kept telling her everything was under control, but the teen leader could read her guardian better than anyone. With no word from the Planetary Council she had to make a hard choice.

* * *

Ben was in the living room watching TV. He hoped one of the self-improvement shows would inspire him to figure out how to undo his curse. He was grateful that Flavia had stayed with him, but was unsure if it was because of loyalty or true love. Either way it was important to express his feelings to her. He heard her footsteps approaching, so he got up to tell her how he felt only to stop in tracks. She was carrying her backpack and small suitcase his mother bought for her. "Flavia, what's going on? Why do you look like you're going to leave?" finish his sentence in such a high pitch tone, his parents entered the room to see what was going on.

Flavia looked away from the Tennyson's biting her lips. She was shaking hard, almost losing her grip on the suitcase. She didn't realize how hard this would be. Digging deep inside to find her inner strength she held her head high before speaking. "Ben, Sandra, Carl; I want to thank you for your generosity. I've enjoyed your company these last few months. Ben, you're my best friend and almost boyfriend. I can't tell you how hard this is for me, knowing that your time is running out, that starting tomorrow you only have two full weeks and a day to break the curse."

"Flavia, what are you trying to say?" Ben asked reaching out for her, only to step away from him. Tears threatened to spill. "I have to go back to Undertown right away. My people, I mean my friends are in danger. The kind you can't walk away from. They need me badly down there to lead and protect them from threats. I can't turn my back on them"

"Are you absolutely certain of that? We could call my Dad, have the Plumbers look into this. Your friends would be safe with them," Carl suggested only for his wife to take his hand and shake her head a little. "I don't think this is a matter the Plumbers can assist in legally." Knowing the truth about Flavia, she understood that the Plumbers couldn't interfere with an internal matter of any species. Having them show up in force would actually weaken Ester's position while painting her as tyrant. No, it was best the teen returned home without any back up. "This is something you have to do by yourself isn't it?"

The girl nodded in response, "I know this is an inconvenient time. I truly wish I could stay, you don't know how hard it is to draw on the strength inside to say follow through with my decision, but my mind is made up. I just need to know Ben that you won't come hunting me down, or force me back here. You have to let me go and believe I'll be back sometime." As she spoke she felt her ring heating up as its warmth spread through her body. She had gained her inner strength trait.

No one could read Ben's expression. Inside he was a mess. An emotional storm was going on. His hope was fading fast, while fear and helplessness grew. His anger kept flashing interrupting his sadness. Joy and happiness didn't exist. The Beast laughed at him, repeating that this was inevitable. He would never be free of the curse, his humanity gone forever turning into the animal he hated to be. Better take what he wanted now then lose it for good

NO I WON'T! I won't keep Flavia a prisoner. I won't give into you. There's still time and I believe she'll come back! In his mindscape he brought up the Omnitrix letting its light banish the darkness away. As he came back to reality he realized everyone was waiting for him to speak. This time, he slowly backed away gesturing to the door. "If I don't respect your choice to go then I would really be an inconsiderate monster. Right now my heart is breaking slightly. I don't want you to go, but I have to accept the choice is out of my hands. Promise me you'll be back before the end?" he pleaded. Flavia surprised him by giving him a big hug. A warmth spread through their bodies as Ben got over his third trait.

They separated from each other, tears in their eyes. "I promise I'll back at the end. I'll keep in touch with Eiar." Ben promised to try his hardest to break the curse on his own. With a wave goodbye Flavia left heading for home, her heart shattering as she went. Watching her go, Ben returned to his room so he could cry in peace.

* * *

Once home Flavia reverted to Ester for the time being. She was tempted to take the ring off and hide it away, but the warning Eiar gave her made her hide it under her glove. Something told her it would be important later on. Instead she concentrated on her duties as leader of the tribe to the best of her abilities.

The days that followed had their own unique challenges for Ester. First, she had to investigate the accidents. She and her warriors had went to the accident sites to see if there was any evidence of foul play. Most of the sites had been cleaned since the accident had occurred. It was only at the most recent accident site that they discovered anything.

The accident site was near a children's playground. A mother and her two young children had went there to have fun. The little ones had played with some of her Kineceleran friends. The kids had played an intense game of tag when pieces of a nearby swing set broke nearly burying the Kraaho kids if their mother hadn't acted fast to save them.

One of her warriors found a piece of the set on the ground. It was apparent at first glance that the metal had been cut through by a knife of some kind. Closer examination revealed that a Kraaho blade had done the deed confirming Ester's suspicion that someone was working against her. Unfortunately it wasn't enough evidence for her to bring charges to anyone in her tribe.

After finding the evidence, she had interviewed the victims to find overlapping data. Most interviews had helped her find a pattern in the accidents. Each time a Kraaho had been getting closer to their neighbors or the verge of making friends, something had occurred to scare both parties off. The incidents were causing rumors stating her tribe was cursed causing several residents to avoid any Kraaho they saw. It disturbed her to think of someone in her tribe betraying their fellow Kraahos'. She became determined to figure out who was orchestrating these attacks.

It was a week and half since she had returned home. She was just finishing a conversation with Eiar via the mirror before a meeting with the tribe to discuss the fear and anxiousness of venturing away from the Hotspot. "So, your grandma hasn't been able to confirm anything about my curse changing?"

Eiar shook her head. "The Planetary Council found mentions of similar situations happening in the library archives, but they can't confirm if the stories are real or legends. The stories predate the union between Pax and Caron, so it's entirely possible for the stories to be make believe."

"I'll take what I can get. What did the stories have to say?"

"It was about the Preservers. That when they took people from one world to another that would use their unique energy to change species. That they were forever linked to them no matter how much time had passed, they would always be there to help mend and heal what was broken. When I compared the stories to what Gwen and Kevin had found out, it made a fragment from my book jump out to me. In the story of the Beast and Beauty, that the bond of love would always keep the two soul mates together in whatever form was best for them."

"Meaning that I could still end up one of my two species or turned into a female beast to comfort him or he could change again being stuck in new beastly form. Great."

"It's all I've got. I'll contact you in a few days to see if something changes. In the meantime you keep trying to learn your traits while helping your people. If weaken the curse enough maybe we can partially break it." Ester nodded as the mirror shimmer before showing her reflection. Slipping the mirror into her coat pocket she hurried to meet up with Ixchel for the meeting.

* * *

Ixchel was waiting for her charge anxiously. The meeting was about to start and Ester wasn't here. There would be no way to persuade the tribe that she wouldn't rest until they were all safe. Encourage them to speak up if they knew someone plotting against their leader. As if the answer to her prey, Ester appeared. "Where have you been? The meeting is going to start any second."

"Had to….check…..with Eiar…to see if she found something else about my curse," Ester panted having run all the way here from her room. "I'm here now, let's get this over with." Straightening her clothes before adjusting her headband she walked out of the cave onto the high ledge to speak. Everyone's eyes looked up at Ester waiting for her to speak.

"My people, I know these last few months have been difficult for all of us. I made a promise to help us become better friends with people of Earth and all its alien species. Many of you believe that I have forgotten my role as leader, but I assure I haven't. Your needs come before anything else."

Looking around she could feel their trust growing in her. She spotted a few tribe members that looked unimpressed by her speech. Out of the corner of her eyes Ester got sight of shadows moving. With a discreet hand gesture, the warriors left to investigate. The Elders behind her raised an eyebrow in confusion, but the teen leader ignored it and continued to speak. "I know that some of you aren't pleased with my leadership, but I urge you to give me a chance. Haven't I led us well this past year? We have a home now, we can go and make friends with others, earn the respect we deserve. With time maybe the tribe can relearn how to tolerate cold temperatures again." That earned her some cheers met with skepticism from the older members.

Trusting her instincts she pushed forward. "As your leader, I investigated the accidents to protect the tribe from further harm. What I found disturbed me, one of our own was causing these accidents to inspire fear! Rumors have spread that we're bad luck, further isolating us from the community. For some time now I've been aware of dissension among the tribe. I know that some of you have plotted against me. These people, no traitorous cowards, have turned their back to the Kraaho creed. I will not tolerate their animosity any longer. I urge my true tribe mates, the brave and loyal, to speak up now. Point out the traitors so that we may bring about justice." Scanning the crowd there was murmuring. The tribe was caught between loyalty to their leader and the love of their friends and family. She needed to push them a little further.

"If someone wishes to challenge me, then I'm ready to fight. I will take on anyone who would destroy their tribe from within. Prove to me that you're a true Kraaho like myself and I may grant mercy!"

"You're the only one who isn't a true Kraaho half-breed!" A voice echoed across the Hotspot. Magma shot up high before falling down again revealing Seebik, wearing an extreme thermal suit, holding a gun of some kind that was pointed at the ceiling. "You stole my title child and I intend to get it back. My fellow hot bloods, lets show these cold cut sympathizers what we do to traitors!" Firing the gun a massive blast of ice covered the ceiling within seconds. They all watched in stun disbelief as the ceiling cracked before a huge chunk fell to the ground sending everyone scattering.

Chaos descended among the crowd. Several tribe mates tried to use their limbs to help their families, only for them to be overpowered by Seebik's men, who twisted their limbs against them before shackling them with electrified cuffs zapping them so bad they fell unconscious. The warriors fought bravely numbering greater than the rebels behind this coup. Seebik was low in numbers, only having a tenth of the population on his side. Still, he had more weapons, seasoned warriors and surprises on his side. Time bombs sent the magma spewing everywhere changing into super liquid nitrogen freezing groups so fast they couldn't move, let alone try to escape.

Seebik made his way to Ester who was pushed behind the Elders and her guardian, all three determined to protect their leader. Elder Noak pointed his battle club at the approaching man with rage filled eyes. "Stand down now Seebik! You lost the title through honorable combat! This is not how we chose leaders!"

Seebik sneered taking out a small crossbow letting three arrows fly. They embedded themselves in Noak who gasped, his color turning deadly brown before collapsing to his death. Elder Kaliska looked at him in horror. "What did you do to him?!"

"I no longer follow the old traditions. Poison and ice are my weapons of choice. Now out of my way," he said killing Kaliska, before moving towards Ester. Ixchel roared charging him her limbs stretching to their limits. He moved out of the way pulling himself up before kicking her in the head. She pushed forward grabbing his foot pulling him off his perch bashing him into the rock face. He broke free attacking her with such force the two of them were locked in high paced attack, their limbs moving at speeds too fast to track.

"I vowed in Calor's memory to protect Ester! I won't let you kill her!" Ixchel shouted. She pushed harder trying to rip his limbs off only to let out a bloody gasp. Looking down, she saw she'd been gutted in the side. With the blood pouring out profusely, it caused her to weaken before Seebik knocked her unconscious. Standing tall he heard the teen coming after him. With great speed he changed out the arrow on his crossbow shooting her in the shoulder with a sedative. He watched with great pleasure as she fell unconscious. Looking down his coup had been successful.

* * *

Ester found herself floating in pitch blackness. Her eyes half closed tried to summon the strength to wake up, her body though felt so heavy. Her mind was encouraging her to sleep longer. Liking that idea, she started to relax, let her body slumber.

"_**No young one. Now is not the time to sleep. Your story has not been finished, there is still much writing to do," **_a disembodied voice echoed across the void. A bright bluish white light in the shape of a diamond, hovered over the girl. Ester squinted as the diamond shifted into a humanoid form, its luster making it difficult to make out distinguishing features. The being reached out and touched the chakra point in the middle of her forehead. _**"Receive this gift, use it help break your curse and save your people." **_ The was a jolt as images flashed through her mind, a quick sequence of events, she didn't have enough time to figure them out as the energy collected in her heart. _**"Awake child! You're needed!" **_

Ester's eyes flew open as she returned to reality. Upon awakening she quickly surveyed her surroundings. She was in a prison cell, her limbs chained in a specially constructed shackles to prevent her from stretching them. The room was freezing, looking up she saw an ice machine installed in the ceiling constantly sending a cold ice to shower on her. The lava lamp lights were extremely dimmed making it difficult to see more than two feet in front of her.

Her shoulder ached where the sedative struck her. She was surprised to find her clothing intact, other than a metal collar around her neck, she had no other wounds leaving her confused. Why hadn't Seebik killed her? Why go through all this trouble to keep her alive if he was just going to kill her?

The door to her cell opened as light poured in from the hallway. She couldn't keep the look of disgust off her face as Seebik entered the cell with his two traitorous bodyguards wearing protective gear to keep the safe from the cold. "Seebik, what have you done? How could you turn your back on your own people?! You've turned your back on what it means to be a Kraaho!" she yelled at him letting out yelp as he slapped her across the face leaving a dark bruise on her face.

"Silence! You will not speak to your leader like that," He instructed her. She opened her mouth to insult him only for him to press a button on a remote hidden in his sleeve. Ester wailed as her body was zapped over and over by a thousand jolts of electricity. "I've had enough of your insolence child. If I didn't need information from you or keep you from being a martyr for the people, you would have been killed instead of locked up."

His words made her perk up. If he was concerned about her being a martyr than his coup was barely holding their position as the new government. Knowing how he worked in the past, she concluded that he must be using fear and threats to keep people in line. She wondered how many people had died before they could be thawed out of time. Her memory was still a little fuzzy from the sedative, but she was positive he had walled up the only entrance to the Hot Spot to cut them off from outside help.

"I won't tell you anything Seebik! I refuse to help you destroy our people!" she hissed. Angered, he ordered his bodyguards to use their weapons to harm her, but keep her alive. What happened next could only be described as a brutal pulverization of a teen short of violating her. There was no way to keep in the screams as she was partially frozen only to have one of them shattered the ice, causing her clothes to shred while leaving raw wounds. She lost count of how many times she was cut or when they used a torture device to stretch her limbs beyond limits before pulled together in a painful pretzel then snapped apart nearly breaking her limbs in the process.

Finally the torture stopped as Seebik lifted her chin so she could look him in the eyes. "You will answer my questions. What deal did you make with the Wiccman girl and what did she do to you? My scouts told me that Ben Ten was cursed to be a beast, how is it that you were going to help him?"

"میں آپ کو غدار کی مدد سے پہلے آپ کو ایک موٹی والرس ریچھ سے باہر جوابات حاصل کریں گے." The native Kraaho was similar to Urdu of the Inuits. Basically she had told him he get answers out of a fat walrus bear before she talk to him. Angered, he let something slipped out. "You're as stubborn as your mother! If it wasn't for her meddling ruining your father, this self-imposed exile wouldn't have been so tortures!"

Ester's expression became confused. She didn't know what he was talking about. Her father had never disclosed how or why a colony of Kraaho had settle on Earth, instead of a planet closer to their home world's specification. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Calor never told his precious daughter the truth? Maybe a few days in darkness will loosen that tongue enough to get some answers. Next time we'll play a little quid quo pro." Turning to his guards he ordered them to lock the cell door, extinguishing any light and not to give her food or water unless he ordered it.

It was practically impossible for her to keep track of the days once the darkness took over. The long of loneliness only broken up by the beating and occasional meal made her hope dwindle. Not even when Seebik would call from the door asking if she was ready to talk, did she give in. Her will though was fading fast.

"I can't hold on any longer. When he comes next time, he'll get the answers for what he wants. He already has my mirror. If he figures out how it works, then he'll look at my ring next. I can't lose it, but I don't know if I can resist anymore. It's hopeless," she muttered to herself. As she started to cry her heart started to glow bluish white. Startled, she watched as the light burst from her heart turning into a delicate Preserver with long white hair with several clips. Her eyes were pupiless, skin as white as marble, in shoulder cut blue dress with medium size bottom skirt. "Hello Ester, I'm Zexope, I am what's left of the Preservers who helped created your species home world. Don't be afraid."

"Which species? I don't understand why you're here. Can you get me out of here?"

Zexope laughed before striding closer waving her hand over the girl, her energy healing Ester's lesser injuries. "I was part of a Preserver Team that protected your ancient ancestors from being wiped out when one of the suns orbiting the home world threatened to go supernova. Most species thought of us as busy bodies interfering with life. How could they know we could see the big picture in the distant future?'

Ester puzzled over that for a minute before the words sunk in. "Your people preserved and created new life, populated and evolved the species that would be needed in the universe, hoping one day for peace." Zexope nodded pleased the girl understood "You healed me, can you free me?"

"That is not my purpose here Ester. I was known as the Preserver of Hope. It's only when you feel completely hopeless that you realize that is the time you need to hold on to hope no matter what. Reaching rock bottom, you can climb back up and wrap yourself in hope."

"What hope? I can't beat Seebik. I couldn't help Ben. I can't even beat my curse! How do I find what isn't there?" she asked. Zexope placed her hand on Ester's chest. "Hope never goes away, it is always with us even when we don't believe it is. If you can't find it, then borrow it from others. If that still isn't enough pray for it. If nothing else works look deep inside and find the inspiration of hope. Can you do that?"

Ester pondered the Preservers words. She could feel Zexope's hope reaching out to her, but she was afraid to trust it. She didn't know how to pray either. Before she could quit, she heard two voices whisper, _"We love you our precious hope. Never forget that." _ "Mama, Daddy?" she whispered, but heard nothing. Their words encouraged her as she dug deep. She couldn't and wouldn't give up hope. Her people needed her, Ixchel needed her, Ben and all her friends needed. Most importantly she needed herself. Her ring glittered in the darkness filling with the warmth of love and hope. Her job done, Zexope returned to Ester's heart to await until she was next needed.

* * *

Ester waited patiently in her cell, instead of thinking of ways to escape, she tried to understand what Zexope had tried to tell her when she placed the images in her mind. Once more the slide show speed by her mind's eye. Taking a few deep breaths she ignored her frosty breath, the shackles containing her, everything. Her mind went blank as a blue whitish aura wrapped itself around her body. The guards standing outside saw this frightening light and ran to get Seebik.

In her mind the slide show stopped and zoomed in. Audio was added as the colors brightened. The blurred edges sharpened. At last the scene was complete enough for her to understand. It felt as if she was sitting at a terminal watching a video play before her.

_She was on an orange red planet with two rings around it. In the distance she could see the remains of one of three suns, there were no ice poles, but on the ends of the planets she could see tropical oasis with lush forest and water holes indicating that the temperature was much cooler there then the rest of the planet. _

_ She zoomed in on the equator watching in confusion as several tribes fought one another. She could identify them based on the color of their clothes and accents. Watching the ritualistic fights and the blood flying she pondered what was going on. _

_ Suddenly the scene shifted finding her tribe at one of the poles. They were wearing light skinned winter wear, though the children wore regular clothes. They were freezing yet adapting to the lack of heat. With a start she understood. They were preparing to leave the war-torn planet to find a new home. With an approaching army they all boarded a colony ship and left the planet in self-imposed exile. _

_ Another scene appeared before her. The ship looked very battered as if it had seen more than one space storm. Inside the tribe had grown in size. Many of the colonist had aged and a new generation was running around the ship. Peering closer she found the leader, identifying him by the black collar on his neck. Beside him he was teaching a young Seebik, and to her surprise, her father as well. The two of them were bantering when the ship was hit by a cosmic super string. It was chaos as a light blinded her. _

_ The next scene was a garble of static. She saw the older male pointing to her father as an unreadable expression appeared on Seebik's face. More static and the ship landed on Earth, unable to be repaired. Her father leaving the ship to find help and meeting her mother instead. Static a shaky image of Seebik in her house talking to her mom, anger clearly written on her face. Static fast forwarding to the night her father died as he left the meeting a shadow following him. What did it all mean?_

Something bashed Ester across the face nearly cutting it open. Her head was jerked up as she came face to face with Seebik, in his right hand her mirror with cracks growing in it. He turned behind him yelling for the guards to bring in the garbage. "I have been patient long enough Ester. You _will _answer my questions or…" he said pausing as a broken and bloody Ixchel was dropped beside him. A snap of his fingers and the powerless female was whipped upright on her knees; a blade to her neck. "Your precious guardian will be killed right in front of you! Do I make myself clear?"

"Don't tell him anything Ester, ugh, he's been planning this since he born!" Ixchel pleaded, as the knife dug deeper into the skin. Any closer and her carotid artery would be severed. Ixchel eyes were telling her to not give in, but Ester couldn't lose another family member. "Let her go, I'll tell you what you want to know, if you keep your quid pro quo bargain."

Seebik smiled broadly, finally the little brat was going to give him the knowledge of how to take the surface and turn it into a paradise for him and his loyal subjects. Hitting her again, he demanded that she tell him everything about her deal with Eiar. "I'm waiting."

"Eiar came to this planet to perform her rite of passage. She cursed Ben into a beast so he learn to overcome his faults, during that process, he would find someone who truly loved him and break his curse. Except Ben is hard to change, so she needed my help."

"Stop, Ester, I beg you. You can give this tyrant any more information!" Ixchel cried out. The second guard used his leg to kick her so hard in the stomach it nearly reopened her wounds. Ixchel bit her tongue to hold back a scream of pain. She had to keep it together for her charge. "Please think about what you're doing my child." Seebik growled turning around to blast her with ice when Ester blurted out. "She cursed me as well so I could help Ben!"

This made Seebik grinned. "Cursed? That young cold cut cursed you? In what way and how does it connect with this mirror, more importantly, Ben Tennyson?"

So Ester informed him about the curse just leaving out a few key details. She bluffed saying she still had nine months until she go stuck in one form. She casually mentioned the mirror was nothing important, just an old antique Eiar had given her to remind her to look for inner beauty. She didn't mention the ring underneath her glove, but when he saw the slight buldge, he ripped off the glove to take a closer look. The brief panic in her eyes betrayed the importance of the ring.

"So this ring is the source of your curse isn't it? My spies mentioned how a human girl, who looked almost identical to Rosa, had been seen hanging out in Undertown. Her ring was exactly like yours." He tried to rip it off her, but the manna protection kept it on her finger. The ring only worked for her and wouldn't come off unless she wanted it too. "This is how you deal with the temperature isn't it? You can walk among them without fear of retaliation. You will tell me how it works!" he bellowed pulling hard to get the ring off.

"Never, even if I told you how the ring is cursed to work only on me. You can't force it to accept you," Ester informed him, holding back her spit. Ixchel was telling him to leave her alone. Seebik just continued on muttering if his cowardly ancestors hadn't left their home world to escape war, he wouldn't have to take such drastic measures.

"So it's true, our tribe did leave our planet to find a more peaceful place to live." Everyone looked at her shocked, the youngest generation had never been told the reason they had come to this planet. Ester did her best to shrug. "Being cursed by a Wiccman makes a person, see secrets I guess. I saw our home world and our tribe leaving, the long journey in space, the cosmic superstring attack, bits about my parents and you. What does it all mean?"

"It's a history of mistakes and cowardliness. I like to call it our fall of grace, that my right of leadership was stolen by Calor and his line!"

Ixchel laughed at him sneering. The guards looked at her puzzled. She managed to push herself fully upright. "Seebik, that's a lie and you know it. After all these years you refuse to accept the truth instead of living in your delusional world," the female muttered. Before he could order her to be gagged she set the truth straight. Their ancestors left to preserve their culture should the warring tribes wipe out each other. How they traveled on a colony ship heading to a new home as the next generation came to be. It was Seebik's Uncle Paytah that had been the leader Ester had seen. Apparently when both Seebik's parents and her grandparents died, trying to fix a broken solar panel, he raised the boys himself.

"Tribe law states, that if a leader has no heir or if the heir isn't ready to lead, he can pick someone to take over for him, until such time the heir is deemed responsible enough. Paytah picked Calor because of Seebik's aggressive nature, he would have led us to be murderous, conquers and tyrants over a planet, even destroy it to have his way," Ixchel spat at the man. The guards tightened their grip applying more force than necessary.

Seebik was enraged by Ixchel's remarks. Losing his head, he went on a rant. "How did I almost bring damnation when it was Calor who ruined the tribe? Forcing us to land on Earth before the ship exploded and leave it behind. I don't care it couldn't be fixed, we still should have salvaged it for weapons instead of parts! He betrayed the tribe by marrying a human; having a half breed child to take over the line of chiefs! She was no symbol of hope and change, her birth meant I couldn't ever reclaim my birthright without a challenge or death! I lost the challenge to Calor, but got justice for myself didn't I? Calor learned what it was like to lose something important, the night I poisoned his wife to death!" There was a collective gasp from everyone when he revealed that secret. He further dug himself a hole by admitting he followed Calor after the meeting to discuss who would be Ester's mentor to prepare her for leadership and murdered him.

Ester started to scream and yell at him. She struggled trying to break free to get to him. She wanted him to pay, but instead he froze her partially. Hissing that he would be happy to kill her the next day, the last day of the month, to join them. He had gained some insight hearing her profanity mixed with threats how to use the ring against her. Ester windpipe started to be crushed as he squeezed her tightly trying to kill her. He knew she would do anything to survive for her revenge. Just before she asphyxiated, she wiggled her ring finger slowly turning it while managing to whisper the transformation words.

Before Seebik's eyes a human girl replaced Ester. Her limps went limp, as the ring fell off. He grabbed it slipping it on a chain he placed on his neck. Without a second of hesitation he broke her mirror against her face causing shards to fly as one piece dug into her cheek. He abused her for a few more minutes getting what he needed before leaving both women alone in the cell to await their execution the next day cementing his leadership and quash any thoughts of rebellion.

* * *

Once they were alone for a short time, Flavia whispered to Ixchel. "How badly are you hurt? Can you still move?"

"I feel like I have battled two Tetramann females for hours, but that's about it. Ester, I'm so sorry, I never knew how much of a traitor Seebik's was. He kept you alive this long to use you, now that he has all the answers its hopeless."

Ester wanted to cry, to grieve for her parents and plan her revenge, but now wasn't the time. She needed to contact Ben and Eiar for help. She notice a glare on the wall, a shard of the mirror was under a lava light. With the right angle it could pick up her reflection. "Ixchel, Can you get to that piece of the mirror?" Her guardian nodded, thankful Seebik's guard had only loosely tied her to the floor. She managed to inch close enough and pick up the shard using her mouth, careful not to cut herself before placing it at the proper angle. "There, I got your reflection. You think this will work?"

"Positive, my message will get garbled, but they'll hear me. Ben will come and so will Eiar," Flavia assured her. While the distance made it hard she still had to try. "I wish to speak to Ben Tennyson and Eiar Dagurdottie."

* * *

At the moment, both were in Ben's living room. She was trying to suppress the Beast, who had gained strength since Flavia hadn't returned yet. It was starting to worry Eiar. She had questioned the residences of Undertown, but none had seen the leader of the Kraaho or any of them for some time. When she went to the Hot Spot, the entrance was all blocked. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what. "Don't give up Ben. She'll be here I know it."

"I never should have gotten my hopes up. I wouldn't come back either, not to see someone lose themselves forever. Grandpa Max has already set up a cell so I don't hurt anyone when the Beast takes over forever."

Eiar opened her mouth to protest when instead she shrieked "Flavia!" Ben turned his head, surprised the TV screen was now showing a darkened reflection of Flavia being chained up. "Flavia! Can you hear me? Where are you? Who's got you prisoner?"

The response was gritty, words were skipped as the image went in and out. "Ben! Ei…. My….Kraaho's are in danger. Seebik….coup…took over. He…my…Ester. That….murder….execute….tomorrow. Please…help!" The image disappeared as the fragment smashed to the floor.

"I knew it! Flavia's in trouble and so is Esther. They have to be friends, why else would she be hanging with Ester?" Ben spoke over Eiar who was about to admit the truth. "We need to get to them and stop Seebik from killing them tomorrow."

Eiar formed a barrier around Ben to prevent him from running off. "We can't go in halfcocked. If Seebik was successful in pulling a coup, what chances do the two of us have? Besides tomorrow is…"

"I know what tomorrow is, I rather go out doing something right rather than waiting for it to happen. As long as I can help both my friends I can cling to that memory while I'm locked up. Besides, I do have a plan. We just need the right help," he told her, his tattoo glowing as the last petal turned black preparing to fall tomorrow trapping him as a beast forever.


	8. Happy Ending

_Hey readers, last chapter of this fairy tale! I did a picture of Ben's new transformation. To see it click my profile and find the link to my deviantart accout. Thanks_

* * *

Flavia/Ester waited in her cell, mentally ticking down the hours. She'd hoped Ben would have been here by now to rescue her. While that was not the case, she had a hunch he was using the time to create a rescue plan and get the help he needed to reclaim the Kraaho tribe on her behalf. It would be the sweetest gift anyone had given her, if that was the truth.

Two hours earlier, the two male guards had returned tearing her clothes off painting symbols on her body marking her a traitor and she was to be executed. A they, dug into her skin to draw her blood to paint her, she recalled that this ritual was to prevent her soul from reaching the Great Warmth in order to send it to the Forever Frozen. Once finished they had dressed her roughly in Seebik's unique version of her death dress. He let her wear the leather top of a Kraaho, but a short painted skirt that ended just above her knees indicated her half-breed status. After that she had been left alone with Ixchel, who had undergone the same ritual.

"If I'm…right…about the time… then our execution is scheduled for four o' clock today. Didn't Eiar mention that the change to the curse meant the time it becomes permanent changed as well?" Ixchel coughed, a worried look in her eyes as she looked at her human god-daughter, as she now thought of her.

Flavia nodded, as she recalled what Eiar had discussed with her the day she left Ben's house. If indeed, her curse had sped up along with Ben's, then time it would become unbreakable was the same time it was case for both, 4:45. They had until then to break out, learn her last trait, before confessing her love to Ben.

"I'm going to try to break the cuffs again. They loosened somewhat when he turned me human. Wiggling around a little she felt a little give in her right hand. Slowly she tried to pull it loose, her wrist becoming raw. Inch by inch she drew her hand out as blood trickled. Finally her hand was free! "I did it! Thank you Seebik for turning me human! Now if I can get the other one out, I can rip off the collar and free my feet," Flavia whispered as started to work on her other wrist.

Ixchel urged her to hurry. Freeing one wrist had taken nearly half an hour. Seebik and the guards would be here soon to take them to the execution. The elder female watched, counting down the seconds as Flavia managed to get her wrist free quickly this time. Ixchel shut her eyes as the teen pulled and pulled the collar as electricity coursed through her, before triumphantly, snapping it in half. Making quick work with her feet she fell to the ground exhausted, sparking, and bleeding with a look of pure joy.

"Run Ester, get out of here, don't waste your time trying to free me!" Ixchel pleaded with her as the girl started to work on her cuffs. "You only have five minutes before they return. Please, Calor and Rosa would want you to live!"

She shook her head continuing to work on this. "No, I won't leave you. The title of Chief Leader, has always been my destiny. I won't fail my responsibility by leaving anyone of my people behind. I'm not going anywhere ahhhhhhhhhh!" A shot of an ice gun pushed her across the floo,r her back hitting the housing to the leg shackles. "What a cold cut you are. I thought these temperatures were nippy. Maybe I should use a different setting on you," Seebik smirked as the girl tried to rise.

Flavia found herself pinned, as her arms were tied behind her back, as a chain connected her legs to a metallic collar on her neck with a leash attached to it. Yanked to her feet by Seebik, who extended his hand straight up, causing Flavia to dangle and choke. Right before she would succumb to suffocation, he dropped her. "As much as I want to end you, your death needs to be public, to make tribe understand the consequences should they challenge me. Seeing your death, will break their spirits."

"You…won't win. This planet…will never…be yours to take over. No one…will bow to you. I hope you rot…in a Plumber Cell forever!" she hissed at him as she struggled to hit him with her head, spying her ring on a gold chain around his neck. The line was too short as he and the guards started to drag the two females through the tunnels to the main area of the Hot Spot. Too soon she heard the outrage of a crowd mixed with shouts of pain. What she saw as she was dragged out in the open on the cliff looking.

* * *

Most of the tribe had either been chained up or were still partially frozen. Seebik had created deadly ice structures around and above them to avoid rioting. It seemed that Seebik's numbers had swelled slightly, but by the looks on the faces, the new men and women were doing this to protect their children. The damage to their home hadn't been cleaned up, and the heat was down instead of up. Seebik hadn't taken care of his tribe at all.

Seebik roared loudly causing everyone's attention to focus on him. Six guards joined him. Each positioning themselves in ritual order as the execution started to get underway. "My fellow tribe mates. As your new leader, it is my responsibility to rid our tribe of the weak and traitorous." He ignored the shouting of the crowed calling him out on this. "The Kraaho's were once the strongest and greatest warrior race in the cosmos. Now look at us, weak, cowardly, peaceful even? That is not the Kraaho way! We are meant for greater things, this planet isn't the refugee we wanted to believe in, but a prison. Why should we live like rats underground instead of the surface? Why adapt ourselves when we can make the planet suit us?"

He yanked Flavia forward swinging her like a pendulum for all to see. Many of the tribe appeared confused, but the ones who had interacted with Rosa on a daily bases knew who that girl was. "This is your half-breed leader! Look, she has cast aside her Kraaho form in favor of a delicate human. Her deal to bring peace, was nothing except an opportunity, to show how weak her human blood was. She is nothing but unwanted dirt. You call me a traitor, this half-breed shouldn't exist." Seebik yelled punching her back and forth. "The symbol of peace hah, Calor and his so-called human wife Rosa, ruined us. I intend to rid the tribe of its last taint of his bloodline." Bringing her close he pulled out his ceremonial knife. First, to sever her spine so she couldn't run away before using his bare hands to behead her.

Flavia looked at her people with no fear. All the ones on her side were trying to reach her, but she shook her head slightly. Her eyes conveyed a message, don't fight back, and wait until one day, when freedom would rise again. She calmly kneeled, waiting for her spine to be severed. As Seebik arched his blade the Hot Spot started to rumble, some of the lava pools started to overspill. "What in the name of Kraaho's is going on?" He looked at the entrance waiting to see who would burst through. Big mistake.

* * *

On the left side of the Hot Spot, a massive hole formed as a sapphire and brown drill broke through the wall revealing Ben and Eiar. "Surprise? Did you really think a ton of rock would stop us from saving the day?" Eiar asked coyly. Seebik's expression was one of pure rage aimed at her. Ben was using his senses, trying to find Ester, as he could see Flavia plainly. According to his nose she was somewhere in the room.

"Release Flavia and give me Ester! If you don't I can't promise you'll live another day." His bestial form went into full blown fight mode causing every part of his body changed to fight position. The Beast inside was egging him on, ready to speed up the process to claim this body as his own.

Seebik laughed, the boy didn't know the truth. Why not tease him a bit. He only had forty minutes left. "What's wrong Beast? Can't tell your mate is right her? Are you so dumb you can't smell the truth?" Ben growled, ready to leap in action. Eiar held him back, reminding him of the plan. With a subtle nod to Flavia the girl knew what to do.

Before they had tied her up she had taken a deep breath, holding it until the job was done. When she exhaled she had about two inches of space. When Seebik had pulled and pushed her, she had gotten more wiggle room, as the chain weakened. With a battle cry she threw her head backwards smashing into Seebik's diaphragm causing him to lose his breath. Getting up she pulled the chains apart, ripped the ring off his necklace while grabbing a weapon. Ixchel did the same thing. "Fight these traitors!" That was cue for step one as Eiar and Ben separated as they joined in the first wave of attack. This was going to be an intense forty minutes.

Eiar jumped down the rock face landing on different ledges. Traditional weapons, spears and hunting knives flew at her. She ducked, twisted and swung out of the way. While the gravity was heavier on Earth, her training had taught her to move gracefully and nimbly, as if she was still on Wiccma. Landing in the middle of a group of rebels she taunted them, daring them to come closer. "What's the matter? Afraid of a teenage alien?"

"I'm not afraid of any cold cut!" one rebel shouted, dropping his weapon before stretching his hands at her. Eiar ducked as they passed over her. She heard them bending back so she jumped on top of his arms running towards him as he retracted them. She did a flying kick towards his head as he started to push himself up on his legs. Striking his chest she bounced off landing hard. Whirling her hands around her gathered yellow dust in her hands shooting it from finger tips. Explosive sparklers went off in his face blinding him, as she kicked him hard in the kneecap breaking causing him to tumble.

Her aura formed a protective barrier around her as laser and ice blasts bombarded her. Three warriors were running in to tackle than pin her. "Not on your lives hot heads!" Purple dust formed into a giant blowing them away into a nearby nook. A single punch of magenta manna caused them to be blocked in.

Creating wings, she flew between the different using her imagination at full blast with her manna dust. She turned their weapons into cake batter, poured tea all over them, even created an entire orchestra blasting playing Beethoven 5th Symphony as loud as possible causing the warriors to cover their ears. "Guess you're not music fans. Excuse me as I do this!" Twirling around she used her aura to wrap around them before knocking them out.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead she looked around. Twenty warriors down and only about a hundred and fifty to go. She glanced sideways at the half frozen people and the soldiers who abandoned their station in attempt to free their families. "Can't help them right now. Need to thin the ranks first. I hope Ben is keeping it together," she whispered. Without looking to see if he was okay, she conjured up a stampeding bison herd, jumped on the bull telling it to charge.

* * *

Ben was making short work of Seebik's bodyguards. His froggy arms started to produce poison mucus as he did a cross cut sending two guards off a cliff age. He roared loudly as his bear fur started to burn from the laser blasts. He jerked his elbows backwards hearing the gurgle as the sharp fins impaled a Kraaho in the neck. The Beast took over at that moment shoving the fin in further cutting the Kraaho's carotid artery killing him. "**First kill, I love the smell of fresh meat. I wonder who else I can kill." **

"Get back in your cage, I'm in charge!" Ben yelled taking control back as he forced the Beast back down for now. The bodyguards had switched tactics, dropping their weapons they used their powerful arms to support their weight as they double kicked Ben knocking the wind out of him. A warrior started to drop from the rock face at him. His scorpion tail lashed out wrapping around the warrior, the barb mere millimeters from his face. Uncurling the tail, he dropped the guy in a lava pit knowing he survive.

"Death to the cold cut!" a rare female warrior shouted. Snatching a fallen electro weapon, she shot the abomination in front of her, digging into his crocodile scales. She sent a charge down, but the scales weren't conducting the charge. "Little known fact, the scales of crocodile are made of osteoderms, otherwise known a bone. No matter how thinly spread these scales are strong and you're little electric charge won't conduct through bone!" With a burst of speed he belly flopped the woman; his scales many to create small gashes in her body leaving her bloody.

Another female warrior was creeping up behind him, but before she could attack someone hit her upside the head with a makeshift meteor hammer. "I always was quick on my feet," Ixchel said out loud helping the boy up. "So you're Ben Ten. Have to say it's nice to meet you. I think I get why Ester likes you."

"Where is she? Why is Seebik fighting Flavia, I mean she's human! What's he got against her, except his usual prejudice?" Ben demanded, the adrenaline rush starting to leave him. Glancing at the clock on his Omnitrix hoping the second wave would get here soon.

"No time to explain, we need to take out Seebik, come on," Ixchel told him as they hurried towards the duo only to see Seebik grab Flavia in one hand and swing to another ledge just above the entrance. Amongst all the chaos Ben couldn't focus his hearing enough to make out what they were saying.

* * *

Seebik had his arms extended all the way, pushing Flavia towards the edge of the ledge. Her human hands getting crushed by his fists as her feet dug into the ground finding a center so she didn't fall. "Look at you fighting as a cold cut! I should have done something about you before I used the fusion generator to recreate the planet."

"A little lava wouldn't have stopped the human race. When met with a challenge they adapt!" Flavia shouted suddenly pushing herself up before jumping on the side of the wall. Seebik tried to let go, but her latent Kraaho traits caused her to loosen her wrists, causing her to slide down the rock wall, before kicking out with her leg, nailing him in the right arm, near his wrist, snapping an important tendon, making the arm immobile for the time. "See, I can adapt well."

Using his moment of shock, she ripped her ring off his chain. Just as it was about to go on her finger, he used his left hand to knock it away on to a higher ledge. "I won't let you return to your true form! I will kill you half-breed." Flavia ignored him, taking a leap of faith, she landed on a nearby ledge and started to climb. Seebik was ready to jump after her when entrance beneath him started to tremble. Cracks formed in the metal as the layer of hard rock shattered. With another big rumble the doors blew open as several Plumber vehicles rushed in stunning everyone. Rook's prototruck was one of them skidding to a stop. Out popped Rook, Kevin, and Gwen. Verdona flew out of a tank holding Max in her arms. Wave two, the backup, had arrived!

"What is the meaning of this? You cold cuts have no right to be here! Plumbers don't interfere with internal matters of alien species!" Seebik roared, he was dangling from the ruined entrance way. Letting go, he landed on top of a tank, ripping the cannon right off and hurling it at the Plumbers who scattered to avoid being smashed.

A shot from Rook's prototool near his feet, caused the usurper to lock eyes on Rook. He recognized the fool from previous encounters, but this time he had taken precautions against the extreme heat, by wearing a special suit to keep him cool. "Blasted fool! Didn't you learn your lesson the last time you encroached on _my_ turf?"

"This turf as you call it, belongs to the rightful leader of the Kraaho, Ester. She has both legal and blood relations rights to be in charge," Rook informed him, keeping his weapon level. "I took a course on culture governments at Plumbers Academy. Upon hearing a plea for help from an associate of said leader, Plumbers have legal right to interfere." He took aim firing a proto-net hoping to capture him, but Seebik was too fast jumping out of the way on his long legs before letting out a primal war call that echoed across the space. The fighting stopped for a second as they all looked at the man on the ledge. Before their eyes, he seemed to get bigger as his body grew and stretched, until he was the size of a gladiator, with strange glowing red markings covering his body.

"This is bad, he's activated the Warrior's Rage," Ixchel whispered to Ben. They had been going after him, but now stopped in their tracks. Ben let out a growl, gnashing his teeth as he got ready to fight the challenger. Ixchel wrapped him up tightly to prevent him from running straight into danger. "Don't! The Warriors Rage is state only the strongest Kraaho can activate. In this form they are three times more deadly, able to surpass any limits of our bodies, the rage itself makes him practically indestructible."

"**Listen closely cold cuts alike! I am the leader of the Kraaho! My forces and I will obliterate you weak Plumbers and make this planet ours! Those who refuse to bow down will be swiftly killed without mercy! My fellow warriors begin the culling as I get rid of the last symbol of the old leadership!" ** The red marking traveled from his body, snaking across the rock and lava pools. When they reached his followers the marking covered their bodies, transforming them into a similar state, only not as large as Seebik. Their newly revitalized bodies smirked as the civilians backed away in fear.

"No way, a normal Kraaho can't fight an army filled with Warrior's Rage," Flavia whispered, pausing in her climb. She looked at Eiar, who was still hovering in the air with her manna dust wings. "_Eiar! You have to help my people_!" she thought telepathically.

"_Don't worry, we've got a plan. Just get that ring back! We only have thirty minutes left!" _Eiar responded. "I'm not afraid of some juiced up Kraaho. I can handle anything! Stick to the plan!" she called out loud before she flew up really high to avoid being struck in midair by a flying Kraaho.

"Magister Tennyson, what are your orders?" one of the Plumbers asked. He looked upon the rushing army as they rolled towards them, ready to plow them over.

"Rook, take Kevin and Gwen, with you. Protect the civilians, get them to safety as fast as you can. Squads, take down the rebels any way you can. Verdona and I will provide cover until we find this Ixchel Eiar mentioned. She hopefully has knowledge to assist us. Eiar, promised to help Ben rescue Flavia. Keep your eyes and ears open for information about Ester's location. Break!" Max ordered already firing a wide-spread beam into the rushing warriors. Verdona grabbed her estranged partner with a single strand of prehensile hair as they flew into battle.

"I haven't had this much fun in years!" Verdona giggled as she warped the ground beneath some of the warriors into ice that creeped along the rebels' bodies. It didn't slow them down as they broke free firing their energy weapons at her and Max. She created a shield to cover them opening a hole for Max to fire through. He nailed two of them in the shoulders, but they brushed it off. "Doll, can you absorb the extra manna in them? Depower them?"

"I'm trying, but for some reason it's not working!" Verdona let out a cry of frustration. A nearby explosion caused them to fall towards a lava pit. Holding tight to Max she teleported them to safety, only for them to be surrounded by a group of Warrior Rage super powered warriors. Standing back to back the duo started fighting back. One warrior struck her in the chest before releasing his rage into her. She screamed unused to energy hurting her. She shoved back by manipulating his regular manna sending him into a lava pool. Looking over her shoulder she admired as Max tackled the charging female warriors flipping them over his shoulders and side stepping to avoid their legs. "Remind you of our first date?" he asked. Verdona nodded as they continued to fight.

* * *

While the Plumber troops clashed one on one as with raging traitors Rook drove his prototruck through the crowds managing to plow through most of the danger. "There! I sense a lot of innocents being rounded up over there!" Gwen shouted pointing to small alcove on the far right. She flung mana disks across the air gaining the rebels attention. The response was immediate as laser beams were shot at them. Legions of arms grabbed the truck halting them in place. The warriors raised the truck high ready to drop it. "Ditch the truck!" she commanded forming a bubble around them. .

Rook groaned as he regretfully abandoned the truck as it smashed to hundreds of pieces. Luckily, Kevin had touched enough matter to absorb the properties of the trucks metal. "We'll fix it, I promise," he said placing a comforting hand on Rook's shoulder, as said being tried not to cry.

Landing on the ground Gwen started casting protective spells to keep the civilians. Kevin started hand to hand combat with three rage filled warriors as Rook used his proto-sword to hold back the warriors attempting to break through the wards to get to the civilians. "Please remain calm. We shall get you to safety as soon as possible." Rook informed the crowd. He drove his proto-sword through the ground spraying think mud all over them. Using his claws he raked them across the face of three super charged males blinding them. "Apologize in advance to any members of your tribe that receive injury. I am merely using self-defense."

"Who cares about the traitors? If you want to stop their Warrior's Rage, you need to cut off their connection to Seebik!" a civilian woman called out. Clutching her children closer she spoke once more. "Find the weak spot in their markings before finding a way to hit that spot. Once it's damaged they'll collapse from sheer exhaustion!"

Kevin grunted before slamming his fist in the middle of warrior's chest. The Kraaho eyes bugged out as underneath his top the weak spot was hit. The red colored markings disappeared as the man fainted. "Found it! It's just like darts, hit them in the bull's eye and they go toppling over!" With that in mind, the trio started taking names as they competed to see how many warriors they could knock out.

* * *

Flavia continued to climb as fast as she could. Ignoring the sounds of chaos around her, she focused solely on getting to the top and getting her ring back. If she could just transform back to Kraaho, she might stand a chance against Seebik's in his enhanced mode. With a burst of energy she hauled herself up over the ledge panting. There, her ring was a mere foot from her hand. She moved to get it when something landed in front of her. The ledge rocked and rumbled causing her to fall off "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

There was a swift sound of wind and growl as she felt herself land in a watery mucus covered set of arms. She felt her rescuer bounce up and up as something sharp dug sharp into the rock walls keeping them from falling. Landing on the ledge, her rescuer put her down letting out a roar of challenge. Opening her eyes she saw it was Ben who had rescued her. "Thanks for the rescue."

"You're welcome, where's Ester? I can smell her, but I can't find her."

"It's complicated, but trust me she's safe." A dark chuckle made them both focus on Seebik. In his enhanced state he was actually causing fear and dread to fill his foes making them tremble. The lethal wave of dread was forcing her to move backwards again, when brownish orange dust covered her, forming a female version of Aztec warrior outfit, complete with a golden jaguar headdress and _**maquahuitl**_**.** Immediately the feelings of fear and dread vanished. Above her head she more brownish orange dust solidifying into super sharp spears with a blade a foot wide striking Seebik's body in a barrage only to have them all bounce off.

Eiar landed next to the couple, surprise in her face. "Those were manna created weapons. They should have left a mark on him instead of bouncing off him."

"**Fools, I'm all powerful and invincible. Nothing can hurt me! You three have lined up nicely for your deaths! I'll start with you traitorous spawn." ** Seebik roared. The damage to his arms was gone as they shot out to fast to see; easily breaking through the shield Eiar threw up. His arms turned backwards binding together so his hands became a sharp arrowhead. Flavia, jumped over them still trying to get to the ring. Rocks started to slide down towards her as sharp hands literally tore them down.

She danced around trying not to get killed. Her armor protect her chest as the leg covers absorbed the shock as Seebik's right leg slammed into her nearly snapping her bone apart. While she couldn't thrust her weapon, she did swing it in a low arc, the sharp obsidian edge pushing it hard against his left leg coming from underneath her. The foot and her weapon battled against one another before she managed to deflect it away. Taking a minute to catch her breath she witnessed the true power of the Warrior's Rage.

Eiar had sprung up into the air, grabbing a handhold directing her aura at his head. Seebik laughed as his head, shockingly stretched into the air biting her right hand drawing blood. Biting harder she could hear bones starting to crack. As the Wiccman girl tried to pry his hand off her Ben charged him throwing him over his back hoping to stretch him enough to snap his limbs back only for him to bounce up as his body hit the causing him to pull tighter. Eiar punched him in the face with her freehand causing him to let go. Looking at her right hand she knew it was broken. Meaning it would be harder to use manna dust or perform her moves. Landing on her feet, Flavia helped her up as Ben continued to fight against Seebik.

"Come on we need to get that ring," Flavia urged her. They only had about twenty-five minutes left. Seeing the ring had bounced over to the back of the ledge she snagged it. Holding it tightly, she slipped it on. Opening her mouth to chant, a red beam of energy struck her hand causing it to burn. Her eyes widened in horror as the ring shattered into bits. "No! How is this possible? It was protected!" she wailed as she gathered the shards in her hands.

"**The Warrior Rage is so powerful, I can blast my rage at targets to protect myself, or in this case, destroy my enemy's weapons. Ha ha now your truly a pathetic weak cold cut!" **Seebik roared. His markings glowed brightly as more rage filled energy beams shot out of his body. The trio was unable to protect themselves as they were bombarded. His power seem to grow in synch with the defeated army.

Seeing the trouble, Verdona flew towards the battle preparing to use her powers. She twisted and morphed the rage beam trying to destroy them. Her manna only seemed to make it worse because suddenly the area became covered in the red energy. She was not prepared for her own body to react violently as the energy coursed through her, her manna fading as she shrank until she was child size. With the beam gone, she fell from the sky heading for a lava pit. "VERDONA!" Max yelled pushing his old body to his limits. Using his suit's power he managed to grab her just as the lava flew up. Max wasn't even screaming as the lava tore through his suit, horribly burning him, eating at his inside. He crashed rolling to a stop just beneath the high ledge they were on. Medics were moving in to help, but it looked bad.

"GRANDPA, GRANDMA!" Ben roared. He was filled with anger, the Beast pushing to the surface as he turned to face Seebik. The man didn't even look fazed. He knew that Ben's animal instincts would take over, making him mindless. He had his blaster behind his back. Flipping a switch he set it for double beam, ice and laser, one shot would kill him even with his protective armored chest.

Ben kicked off with his talons spinning around trying to blind Seebik with his mucus arms. Of course that didn't work and neither did his tail. Landing he reached out ready to bite his head off as Seebik drew out his weapon. **"Good riddance Ben Tennyson!" **

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!" Flavia's voice rang out. Before Eiar could stop her, she slid in front of Ben taking both shots in the chest. The beams tore through her armor going through her body and exiting out of the back. With a blood filled gurgle the human girl swayed before falling off the ledge heading for the ground. "ROOK! Energy net!" Eiar screamed, casting her power one-handed, and creating a foam rescue pad in midair, as Rook's used his prototool, to complete the landing. The stretching energy net held the foam as it absorbed the impact of Flavia hitting it at full speed. The net vanished as Flavia lay motionless on the foam pad. No one could tell if she was dead or alive.

* * *

Ben's heart stopped, he couldn't process what had just happened. Flavia had taken a shot for him, to keep him alive at the cost of probably her life. His entire body was filled with rage and territorial instincts. Twisting about he looked at the smile on Seebik's face, his entire body holding in a bellow of triumphant. **"At last, the half-breed is gone. Just like her parents, she was never meant to live. Now it's your time to die Ben Tennyson," **he informed him. Eiar, turned her attention to the fight getting ready to fight side by side. Her expression was beyond furious. Her aura grew in size and strength, its power doubled by her barely contained rage. Seebik pointed a single finger at her, the nail turning into a sharp point. **"I haven't forgotten you little girl. I have plans to use your power to get what I want before I squeeze the life out of you." **

Eiar got ready to attack when Ben blocked her with an arm. Looking up, she got the shock of her life. His eyes were different, one eye yellow and one green. Were the two minds working as one she wondered? "Ben, what are you?"

"This is my fight **Eiar. I'll show** him who the **true beast is here,"** Ben/Beast told her. He held his arm up as he fiddled with the Omnitrix. Instead of attacking them to prevent a transformation, Seebik just stood there amused as he waited for Ben to change.

"**Are you hoping to get lucky and turn into a Kraaho? Even if you did, you wouldn't stand a chance of activating Warrior's Rage in a pitiful fifteen minute time frame," **the gladiator insulted him. Eiar wanted to stop him transforming now could be dangerous with the time limited almost up, but nothing could stop Ben.

"It's **hero time**! Curse Breaker style!" tapping the Omnitrix screen. There was a flash of green light as Ben transformed. When they could see again Eiar eye brows shot up. He had turned himself into a male Wiccman! His skin was much darker and his hair was a bit bushy pointing straight up with a mix of brown and red. His eyes had returned to green with the same color painted around them. He wore a black short sleeved body suit, with a green armored top and green cape wrapping battle skirt, complete with a red double leather belt with the Wiccmans' emblem on it. He also had on a short black jacket. His boots were black with sharp arrow points and his bracers/gloves combo were black with green and red mixed together. On the left bracer was the Omnitrix symbol. His last accessory was red tooth shaped necklace. Surrounding him was a swirling black and green aura.

"**So the great Ben Tennyson decides to use a form that I've already defeated, in order to stop me? Well, go ahead. I wonder how long you'll last with me until I kill you." **

"The only one who'll be defeated will be you." The new Wiccman stood his ground, his eyes glowing as his aura shone brightly. Concentrating, he imagined a giant sand storm swirling all around him. His thoughts came to life as the many different colors of manna swirled around the fighting duo separating them from Eiar. She bit her lip drawing her slashed coat closer to her body. Her internal clock was telling her if Ben won this fight in fifteen minutes, he have only about seven minutes to say goodbye before the Beast fully took over. "Go for it Ben! Finish him quickly!"

Inside the swirling dust storm Seebik was striking out with his arms and head trying to get to the transformed human. Curse Breaker crossed his arms as a massive amount of dust formed an impenetrable green/sapphire/brown shield. To Seebik's surprise he couldn't break it. While he was in shock Curse Breaker slid under the shield creating a paint palate and a brush. Using his paint, he splashed the different colors over his arms, the paint drying over Seebik's Rage Marks. As this happened Seebik discovered his power was dropping as he shrank a bit.

"**You have the audacity to take away my power?" **

"I'm just evening the playing field a little. What's the matter Muscle Man? Scared of a little paint?" Curse Breaker joked. Snapping his fingers he had black and white dust wrapping itself around the Kraaho's clothes until he was in a serving maid's outfit. He laughed his head off as his foe tried to get out of the dress. "This is priceless!"

Curse Break felt a hard punch to his gut before his legs got pulled out from under him. His body was then shoved through the ledge, pulled back up and dragged across the wall before the attack was repeated a second time. Just before it could be done a third time, he used his weighted boots to break free. Twisting around his gloved hands hit the ground as he pushed himself into a back flip landing astride on the Kraaho's shoulders. He wrapped his arms and legs tightly around Seebik's neck trying to chock him. The Kraaho thrashed about trying to dislodge him. Curse Breaker refused to let go, his aura intensified, coating the two of them in its power.

Seebik felt his power leaving him, his body shrinking and his arm returning to its damaged form. **"No, I won't let go of this power! I refuse to b**e a weakling" he bellowed, only to be reverted to his regular form save his outfit. Angry, he managed to pull Curse Breaker off him and toss him across the air hoping he fall off, but he created a hoverboard with gold dust. "Why won't you die? Surely death is preferable to living the rest of your life as a monster?"

"I don't care what I look like Seebik. Whether I remain an animal or human for the rest of my life, I'm always going to be Ben Tennyson. A hero, friend, son, and lover," he stated calmly unaware of the warmth spreading across him. "As for you, Ixchel gave me permission, to carry out justice for the tribe any way I saw fit. So here's your punishment. I'm going to cure you!"

Seebik got ready to attack when his limbs being restrained tightly. He hadn't realized the dust storm had vanished. Eiar's eyes flashed as specially crafted chains held him in place. With all her strength she broke that piece of the ledge rotating it until Seebik was straight out against its side in an X-spread. "Now!"

"_Seebik Hakin, you have betrayed your tribe and stolen the leadership from rightful heir while attempting regicide has condemned you for all time. For the rest of your life you will suffer the curse of Prometheus. Chained to the walls, birds will feast on your flesh every day until your nothing but bone. You will recover in immeasurable pain each night as the process stars all over. You shall never escape this punishment, so mote it be!" _Curse Breaker cast. The same light and sound show occurred as the giant vultures appeared as a cage formed around him silencing his screams before Curse Breaker teleported him to a cell in Plumbers HQ. It was over, Seebik and his rebels had fallen.

The Omnitrix time out reverting back to Ben in his animal form. He was breathing heavily, very tired as Eiar floated him down to the deflated foam pallet. Ben's team, grandparents and Ixchel had gather around Flavia's body. Landing next to her, Ixchel looked up tears in her eyes. "She only has a few minutes left to live. The damage is too serious."

Flavia's eyes were halfway closed, her breathing shallow as her skin turned deathly white. "Ben?" she whispered. He took her hand in his looking at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. You saved my life, why?" He grunted, his eyes changing. His body was losing its fight mode switching to a sad mode of the loss of a mate. "Why did you risk your life like that? Seebik wasn't your enemy so why did he want to…"

Flavia coughed as more blood spilled out. "He was my enemy... he killed my parents to claim….leadership. I'm…not….as I seem. Ixchel…will explain…once I'm gone. I did what I did…because I finally accept… both sides of me. I'm proud of both…my heritages..., for both have their own unique beauty," she whispered, not even feeling the warmth from the ring shards still in her hands. "Promise me…something. Even after I'm gone and you're…a beast for life…you'll hold on to the memories of me. That you remember all the good times… so that the Beast… doesn't win for good."

"I promise I'll never forget you. I love you Flavia Tintino, both your human and whatever other side there is." He tighten his hold on her hand. He watched her smile as she whispered to him faintly, "I love you Ben Tennyson. Goodbye." With one last breath she died as the clock ran out.

Ben's eyes completely changed to gold, he was growling and snarling. Letting go of Flavia's hands he turned to attack his former friends and family. Verdona used her powers to restrain him as Max shot him with a tranquillizer dart. They had promised Ben if the Beast won, they would make sure he never hunted or killed anyone. He wanted to be locked up in private wildlife area of the HQ where he could live in some peace.

Eiar fell down on her knees striking the floor in frustration and sadness. "I never wanted this! I wanted them both to find the strength to change, to become better people. I ruined two lives forever. I should be exiled to this place and stripped of my powers. I failed them and myself." The observers looked at the trio sadness in their eyes, they wanted to grieve, but couldn't at the moment. One teen dead, another trapped in beast body forever, and the last banished from her home with no way to fix this. There was no happy ending to this story.

* * *

Eiar was still crying when she felt something building up in her heart. She quickly got to her feet looking down as a bluish white light formed around her heart. There was a gasp from Gwen as the same glow appeared on both Ben and Flavia's heart. In twirl of sparkles the lights left the hearts swirling around above the trio's heads. The lights started to form an outline drawing closer together until there was a brief flash and they could see Zexope accompanied by two male Preservers; the one above Eiar was built like a knight in shining gold armor with a kind face. He was known as Barspon. The other was a lanky teenager with a mowhawk and had dangling earrings on his ears, sporting a skin tight shirt and pants. He was known as Astraspect. "What in the name of Pax is going on? Who are you three?"

"I'm Zexope, a Preserver famous from inspiring hope, my essences contained in the blood of this young girl. My companions; Barspon he lives on in Eiar's heart for now just as Astraspect chose to live in Ben's blood. We are the voices you've heard," Zexope explained. Her hands gently hovering over Flavia, as if to touch her.

"In times of despair, I spoke to Ben, a whisper to remind him to hold on to his self-respect, and those who he gained. It helped keep the Beast at bay," Astraspect said, his eyes locked on the Beast's calming him.

"It was I who helped nurture your understanding of the enormous responsibility that comes with the _Dveljast niður tvær_ _leiðir _and how important it is to care for your _Valið sveinspróf. _ You listened trying to make it right with your actions. You have truly understood the meaning of this ritual," Barspon told her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You and your friends, have completed all requirements to end this curse."

"How do you intend to do that? The time limit is up! If Flavia was part of this than how do you propose to bring her back from the dead?" Gwen demanded angrily.

"Didn't Ben have one more trait to overcome? I mean he was still working on vanity?" Kevin reminded him.

"I am also confused, what requirements did Flavia or Eiar have to do to break this curse? It would seem to me that there is no way to end this fairly," Rook said.

The three Preservers looked at one another and then crowd. With their glowing smiles as they linked hands. They spoke to the crowds souls, telling them all questions would answered shortly. They started spinning around in a circle as a bluish white tinged with gold. Faster and faster as their lights started to wrap themselves around the three members of this curse. The wind whipped up as the Beast was lifted up in the air. All eyes focused as the energy seemed gather tighter around him until it was a chrysalis.

The transparent chrysalis allowed them to watch as the Beast changed. First, the tail turned brown and fell off. His legs changed back to normal along with his arms. Curling up the scaled chest and furry back vanished. The last piece to change was his head. A deep breath was exhaled as his human face appeared. The chrysalis popped open as Ben was gently placed on the ground asleep.

The next to change was Flavia. She was held in the air in a T-shape position. The light started around her feet going round and round. A purple snowsuit appeared. The injury to her chest vanished as her arms return to normal, the ring restored on her finger. At last her true identity of Ester was revealed to everyone as she too was placed on the ground gently. For some reason there a streak of brown hair in her pink and her eye shape was more oval like.

The lights were cast around Eiar. Her aura pulsing as the lights merged with it. The power she felt was ancient yet tempered. Her body felt lighter than before as if a great weight was gone. The last thing it did was leave a small colored mark on her left forearm. Standing up she watched as the two lovers slowly awoke looking in at each other's eyes.

"Ben, you're normal again! I'm so happy for you!" Ester cried struggling to stand. She ignored help taking a few teetering steps before falling into her hero's arms. He was surprised, one of her eyes was now brown not purple. Looking at her closely he could see traits of Flavia, but the dead giveaway was the ring on her finger.

"Ester, I don't understand. You're Flavia? How did you…was it all a lie?"

Ester shook her head. "Flavia is a part of me, my human half. I wasn't lying about anything when we talked. The only think I didn't tell you was my full name. It's Ester Flavia Tintino-Setna. I was also cursed, with beauty spell, to teach me to appreciate all parts of me."

"Correct child," Zexope whispered. Ben and her looked up to see the hovering Preserves as Eiar joined them wondering what they were waiting for. "Tell me Ester Flavia Tintino-Setna; what have you learned on this journey? What beauty have discovered that changed you and allowed you to say you love this boy?"

Ester was quiet for a moment as she thought about it. These past few months blurring together. At last she had an answer. "I'm neither Kraaho nor human. I'm me; a beautiful person. I am a self-confident leader, who shares her talents with others. I have the inner strength and hope to be both a leader and friend. Most of all, I accept that I'm the best of both my parents love. These traits changed me, made me finally be straight forward about my feeling for Ben Tennyson. I truly love him with all my heart."

Zexope nodded winking an eye at Astraspect. "Young man, what has this experience taught you? How have you changed?"

"Well besides the obvious about beauty comes from the inside and don't judge someone by the outside, I think I finally understand what it means to be a good humane person. It's not always about me. Arrogance combined with disrespect and inconsiderate to others is wrong and hurtful. You need to nice to everyone you meet. Remember to use your brains and don't worry about your looks so much because you might be accused of being a beast. Ester helped me and I love all of her because I don't care about species I care about a person." He tightened his grip on her hand squeezing it.

Barspon cleared his throat waiting for Eiar to speak. "I truly understand the meaning behind this ritual. It's not just understanding my power and consequences of my actions. I am responsible for not just my powers, but the people I love and to show the best of my kind. I shall never forget this wisdom."

With a nod the Preservers revealed they had all completed their traits and understanding as the couple whispered their love a second before time ran out. Now all was as it should be. They hoped they would keep growing and changing, never forgetting what they learned. With a final wave they disappeared inside the hearts of their chosen ones as the crowd moved in for a group hug.

* * *

A week later Eiar was preparing for her world tour. Her reservation still stood and she could come back anytime she wanted as long as she there for her return trip. At the moment she was in a transformed back yard curtsey of Verdona creating an environment suited to both humans and Kraaho. It was a little party to celebrate the curses being lifted.

Watching Ben and Ester teasing one another as they ganged up on Gwen and Kevin made her smile. They were so happy. An idea came to her as she used her powers to create a small ballroom dressing Ben in a handsome green tux as Ester was in a traditional Mexican dancing dress. A snap of the fingers and a spotlight hit the couple. The music changed, a love song called, "I Just Call You Mine," by Martina McBride played as all eyes focused on the couple's first dance.

_I pinch myself, sometimes to make sure I'm not in a dream. That's how it seems. I close my eyes and breathe in the sweetest moments I've ever known .It feels like home _

_And here I am, I want to be your everything. There you are  
turning winter into spring._

_And everyone that sees you. Always wants to know you and everyone that knows you, always has a smile. You're a standing ovation after take years of waiting, for a chance to finally shine. Everyone calls you amazing. Yeahhhh  
I just call you mine._

_I fall apart and just a word from you, somehow seems to fix  
whatever's wrong. Ohh, you reach into the weakest moments and remind me that I'm strong .You gotta know I'd be a fool not to see or even worse to forget  
that you're more than I deserve. _

_Cause everyone that sees you always wants to know you. And everyone that knows you, always has a smile. You're a standing ovation after take years of waiting, for a chance to finally shine. Everyone calls you amazing, I just call you mine._

_Nothing makes sense when you're not here. As if my whole world disappears  
without you what's the point of it? _

_Cause everyone that sees you always wants to know you. And everyone that knows you always has a smile. You're the dream that I've been chasing after years of waiting for a chance to finally shine. Everyone calls you amazing  
I just call you mine._

Under the spotlight the two leaned into each other hugging each other. With a tilt of their heads they were kissing each other, proving that a fairy tale happy ending was possible, when you believed in it enough.


End file.
